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diff --git a/3069.txt b/3069.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6df843 --- /dev/null +++ b/3069.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20670 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Great Boer War, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Great Boer War + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: February 1, 2009 [EBook #3069] +Release Date: Feb, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT BOER WAR *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Laing, and Sue Asscher + + + + + +THE GREAT BOER WAR + +By Arthur Conan Doyle + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER 1. THE BOER NATIONS. + +CHAPTER 2. THE CAUSE OF QUARREL. + +CHAPTER 3. THE NEGOTIATIONS. + +CHAPTER 4. THE EVE OF WAR. + +CHAPTER 5. TALANA HILL. + +CHAPTER 6. ELANDSLAAGTE AND RIETFONTEIN. + +CHAPTER 7. THE BATTLE OF LADYSMITH. + +CHAPTER 8. LORD METHUEN'S ADVANCE. + +CHAPTER 9. BATTLE OF MAGERSFONTEIN. + +CHAPTER 10. THE BATTLE OF STORMBERG. + +CHAPTER 11. BATTLE OF COLENSO. + +CHAPTER 12. THE DARK HOUR. + +CHAPTER 13. THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. + +CHAPTER 14. THE COLESBERG OPERATIONS. + +CHAPTER 15. SPION KOP. + +CHAPTER 16. VAALKRANZ. + +CHAPTER 17. BULLER'S FINAL ADVANCE. + +CHAPTER 18. THE SIEGE AND RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY. + +CHAPTER 19. PAARDEBERG. + +CHAPTER 20. ROBERTS'S ADVANCE ON BLOEMFONTEIN. + +CHAPTER 21. STRATEGIC EFFECTS OF LORD ROBERTS'S MARCH. + +CHAPTER 22. THE HALT AT BLOEMFONTEIN. + +CHAPTER 23. THE CLEARING OF THE SOUTH-EAST. + +CHAPTER 24. THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING. + +CHAPTER 25. THE MARCH ON PRETORIA. + +CHAPTER 26. DIAMOND HILL--RUNDLE'S OPERATIONS. + +CHAPTER 27. THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION. + +CHAPTER 28. THE HALT AT PRETORIA. + +CHAPTER 29. THE ADVANCE TO KOMATIPOORT. + +CHAPTER 30. THE CAMPAIGN OF DE WET. + +CHAPTER 31. THE GUERILLA WARFARE IN THE TRANSVAAL: NOOITGEDACHT. + +CHAPTER 32. THE SECOND INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. + +CHAPTER 33. THE NORTHERN OPERATIONS FROM JANUARY TO APRIL, 1901. + +CHAPTER 34. THE WINTER CAMPAIGN (APRIL TO SEPTEMBER, 1901). + +CHAPTER 35. THE GUERILLA OPERATIONS IN CAPE COLONY. + +CHAPTER 36. THE SPRING CAMPAIGN (SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 1901). + +CHAPTER 37. THE CAMPAIGN OF JANUARY TO APRIL, 1902. + +CHAPTER 38. DE LA REY'S CAMPAIGN OF 1902. + +CHAPTER 39. THE END. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FINAL EDITION. + +During the course of the war some sixteen Editions of this work have +appeared, each of which was, I hope, a little more full and accurate +than that which preceded it. I may fairly claim, however, that the +absolute mistakes made have been few in number, and that I have never +had occasion to reverse, and seldom to modify, the judgments which I +have formed. In this final edition the early text has been carefully +revised and all fresh available knowledge has been added within the +limits of a single volume narrative. Of the various episodes in the +latter half of the war it is impossible to say that the material is +available for a complete and final chronicle. By the aid, however, of +the official dispatches, of the newspapers, and of many private letters, +I have done my best to give an intelligible and accurate account of +the matter. The treatment may occasionally seem too brief but some +proportion must be observed between the battles of 1899-1900 and the +skirmishes of 1901-1902. + +My private informants are so numerous that it would be hardly possible, +even if it were desirable, that I should quote their names. Of the +correspondents upon whose work I have drawn for my materials, I would +acknowledge my obligations to Messrs. Burleigh, Nevinson, Battersby, +Stuart, Amery, Atkins, Baillie, Kinneir, Churchill, James, Ralph, +Barnes, Maxwell, Pearce, Hamilton, and others. Especially I would +mention the gentleman who represented the 'Standard' in the last year +of the war, whose accounts of Vlakfontein, Von Donop's Convoy, and +Tweebosch were the only reliable ones which reached the public. + +Arthur Conan Doyle, Undershaw, Hindhead: September 1902. + + + + +CHAPTER 1. THE BOER NATIONS. + +Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended +themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when +Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain +of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and fortune and +left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict +of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, +unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. Take this formidable people +and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage +men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances under which no weakling could +survive, place them so that they acquire exceptional skill with weapons +and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to +the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman, and the rider. Then, finally, +put a finer temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic +Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine +all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual, and you +have the modern Boer--the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed +the path of Imperial Britain. Our military history has largely consisted +in our conflicts with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have +never treated us so roughly as these hard-bitten farmers with their +ancient theology and their inconveniently modern rifles. + +Look at the map of South Africa, and there, in the very centre of the +British possessions, like the stone in a peach, lies the great stretch +of the two republics, a mighty domain for so small a people. How came +they there? Who are these Teutonic folk who have burrowed so deeply into +Africa? It is a twice-told tale, and yet it must be told once again if +this story is to have even the most superficial of introductions. No one +can know or appreciate the Boer who does not know his past, for he is +what his past has made him. + +It was about the time when Oliver Cromwell was at his zenith--in 1652, +to be pedantically accurate--that the Dutch made their first lodgment at +the Cape of Good Hope. The Portuguese had been there before them, but, +repelled by the evil weather, and lured forwards by rumours of gold, +they had passed the true seat of empire and had voyaged further to +settle along the eastern coast. Some gold there was, but not much, and +the Portuguese settlements have never been sources of wealth to the +mother country, and never will be until the day when Great Britain +signs her huge cheque for Delagoa Bay. The coast upon which they settled +reeked with malaria. A hundred miles of poisonous marsh separated it +from the healthy inland plateau. For centuries these pioneers of South +African colonisation strove to obtain some further footing, but save +along the courses of the rivers they made little progress. Fierce +natives and an enervating climate barred their way. + +But it was different with the Dutch. That very rudeness of climate +which had so impressed the Portuguese adventurer was the source of their +success. Cold and poverty and storm are the nurses of the qualities +which make for empire. It is the men from the bleak and barren lands who +master the children of the light and the heat. And so the Dutchmen at +the Cape prospered and grew stronger in that robust climate. They did +not penetrate far inland, for they were few in number and all they +wanted was to be found close at hand. But they built themselves houses, +and they supplied the Dutch East India Company with food and water, +gradually budding off little townlets, Wynberg, Stellenbosch, and +pushing their settlements up the long slopes which lead to that great +central plateau which extends for fifteen hundred miles from the edge +of the Karoo to the Valley of the Zambesi. Then came the additional +Huguenot emigrants--the best blood of France three hundred of them, a +handful of the choicest seed thrown in to give a touch of grace and soul +to the solid Teutonic strain. Again and again in the course of history, +with the Normans, the Huguenots, the Emigres, one can see the great hand +dipping into that storehouse and sprinkling the nations with the same +splendid seed. France has not founded other countries, like her great +rival, but she has made every other country the richer by the mixture +with her choicest and best. The Rouxs, Du Toits, Jouberts, Du Plessis, +Villiers, and a score of other French names are among the most familiar +in South Africa. + +For a hundred more years the history of the colony was a record of the +gradual spreading of the Afrikaners over the huge expanse of veld which +lay to the north of them. Cattle raising became an industry, but in +a country where six acres can hardly support a sheep, large farms are +necessary for even small herds. Six thousand acres was the usual size, +and five pounds a year the rent payable to Government. The diseases +which follow the white man had in Africa, as in America and Australia, +been fatal to the natives, and an epidemic of smallpox cleared the +country for the newcomers. Further and further north they pushed, +founding little towns here and there, such as Graaf-Reinet and +Swellendam, where a Dutch Reformed Church and a store for the sale +of the bare necessaries of life formed a nucleus for a few scattered +dwellings. Already the settlers were showing that independence of +control and that detachment from Europe which has been their most +prominent characteristic. Even the sway of the Dutch Company (an older +but weaker brother of John Company in India) had caused them to revolt. +The local rising, however, was hardly noticed in the universal cataclysm +which followed the French Revolution. After twenty years, during which +the world was shaken by the Titanic struggle between England and France +in the final counting up of the game and paying of the stakes, the Cape +Colony was added in 1814 to the British Empire. + +In all our vast collection of States there is probably not one the +title-deeds to which are more incontestable than to this one. We had it +by two rights, the right of conquest and the right of purchase. In 1806 +our troops landed, defeated the local forces, and took possession of +Cape Town. In 1814 we paid the large sum of six million pounds to the +Stadholder for the transference of this and some South American land. +It was a bargain which was probably made rapidly and carelessly in that +general redistribution which was going on. As a house of call upon the +way to India the place was seen to be of value, but the country itself +was looked upon as unprofitable and desert. What would Castlereagh or +Liverpool have thought could they have seen the items which we were +buying for our six million pounds? The inventory would have been a mixed +one of good and of evil; nine fierce Kaffir wars, the greatest +diamond mines in the world, the wealthiest gold mines, two costly and +humiliating campaigns with men whom we respected even when we fought +with them, and now at last, we hope, a South Africa of peace and +prosperity, with equal rights and equal duties for all men. The future +should hold something very good for us in that land, for if we merely +count the past we should be compelled to say that we should have been +stronger, richer, and higher in the world's esteem had our possessions +there never passed beyond the range of the guns of our men-of-war. But +surely the most arduous is the most honourable, and, looking back from +the end of their journey, our descendants may see that our long record +of struggle, with its mixture of disaster and success, its outpouring +of blood and of treasure, has always tended to some great and enduring +goal. + +The title-deeds to the estate are, as I have said, good ones, but there +is one singular and ominous flaw in their provisions. The ocean has +marked three boundaries to it, but the fourth is undefined. There is +no word of the 'Hinterland;' for neither the term nor the idea had +then been thought of. Had Great Britain bought those vast regions which +extended beyond the settlements? Or were the discontented Dutch at +liberty to pass onwards and found fresh nations to bar the path of the +Anglo-Celtic colonists? In that question lay the germ of all the trouble +to come. An American would realise the point at issue if he could +conceive that after the founding of the United States the Dutch +inhabitants of the State of New York had trekked to the westward and +established fresh communities under a new flag. Then, when the American +population overtook these western States, they would be face to face +with the problem which this country has had to solve. If they found +these new States fiercely anti-American and extremely unprogressive, +they would experience that aggravation of their difficulties with which +our statesmen have had to deal. + +At the time of their transference to the British flag the +colonists--Dutch, French, and German--numbered some thirty thousand. +They were slaveholders, and the slaves were about as numerous as +themselves. The prospect of complete amalgamation between the British +and the original settlers would have seemed to be a good one, since +they were of much the same stock, and their creeds could only be +distinguished by their varying degrees of bigotry and intolerance. Five +thousand British emigrants were landed in 1820, settling on the Eastern +borders of the colony, and from that time onwards there was a slow but +steady influx of English speaking colonists. The Government had the +historical faults and the historical virtues of British rule. It was +mild, clean, honest, tactless, and inconsistent. On the whole, it might +have done very well had it been content to leave things as it found +them. But to change the habits of the most conservative of Teutonic +races was a dangerous venture, and one which has led to a long series +of complications, making up the troubled history of South Africa. The +Imperial Government has always taken an honourable and philanthropic +view of the rights of the native and the claim which he has to the +protection of the law. We hold and rightly, that British justice, if not +blind, should at least be colour-blind. The view is irreproachable in +theory and incontestable in argument, but it is apt to be irritating +when urged by a Boston moralist or a London philanthropist upon men +whose whole society has been built upon the assumption that the black +is the inferior race. Such a people like to find the higher morality +for themselves, not to have it imposed upon them by those who live under +entirely different conditions. They feel--and with some reason--that +it is a cheap form of virtue which, from the serenity of a well-ordered +household in Beacon Street or Belgrave Square, prescribes what the +relation shall be between a white employer and his half-savage, +half-childish retainers. Both branches of the Anglo-Celtic race have +grappled with the question, and in each it has led to trouble. + +The British Government in South Africa has always played the unpopular +part of the friend and protector of the native servants. It was upon +this very point that the first friction appeared between the old +settlers and the new administration. A rising with bloodshed followed +the arrest of a Dutch farmer who had maltreated his slave. It was +suppressed, and five of the participants were hanged. This punishment +was unduly severe and exceedingly injudicious. A brave race can forget +the victims of the field of battle, but never those of the scaffold. The +making of political martyrs is the last insanity of statesmanship. It +is true that both the man who arrested and the judge who condemned the +prisoners were Dutch, and that the British Governor interfered on the +side of mercy; but all this was forgotten afterwards in the desire to +make racial capital out of the incident. It is typical of the enduring +resentment which was left behind that when, after the Jameson raid, it +seemed that the leaders of that ill-fated venture might be hanged, +the beam was actually brought from a farmhouse at Cookhouse Drift to +Pretoria, that the Englishmen might die as the Dutchmen had died in +1816. Slagter's Nek marked the dividing of the ways between the British +Government and the Afrikaners. + +And the separation soon became more marked. There were injudicious +tamperings with the local government and the local ways, with a +substitution of English for Dutch in the law courts. With vicarious +generosity, the English Government gave very lenient terms to the Kaffir +tribes who in 1834 had raided the border farmers. And then, finally, in +this same year there came the emancipation of the slaves throughout the +British Empire, which fanned all smouldering discontents into an active +flame. + +It must be confessed that on this occasion the British philanthropist +was willing to pay for what he thought was right. It was a noble +national action, and one the morality of which was in advance of its +time, that the British Parliament should vote the enormous sum of twenty +million pounds to pay compensation to the slaveholders, and so to remove +an evil with which the mother country had no immediate connection. It +was as well that the thing should have been done when it was, for had we +waited till the colonies affected had governments of their own it could +never have been done by constitutional methods. With many a grumble the +good British householder drew his purse from his fob, and he paid for +what he thought to be right. If any special grace attends the virtuous +action which brings nothing but tribulation in this world, then we may +hope for it over this emancipation. We spent our money, we ruined our +West Indian colonies, and we started a disaffection in South Africa, the +end of which we have not seen. Yet if it were to be done again we should +doubtless do it. The highest morality may prove also to be the highest +wisdom when the half-told story comes to be finished. + +But the details of the measure were less honourable than the principle. +It was carried out suddenly, so that the country had no time to adjust +itself to the new conditions. Three million pounds were ear-marked for +South Africa, which gives a price per slave of from sixty to seventy +pounds, a sum considerably below the current local rates. Finally, the +compensation was made payable in London, so that the farmers sold their +claims at reduced prices to middlemen. Indignation meetings were held in +every little townlet and cattle camp on the Karoo. The old Dutch spirit +was up--the spirit of the men who cut the dykes. Rebellion was useless. +But a vast untenanted land stretched to the north of them. The nomad +life was congenial to them, and in their huge ox-drawn wagons--like +those bullock-carts in which some of their old kinsmen came to +Gaul--they had vehicles and homes and forts all in one. One by one they +were loaded up, the huge teams were inspanned, the women were seated +inside, the men, with their long-barrelled guns, walked alongside, +and the great exodus was begun. Their herds and flocks accompanied the +migration, and the children helped to round them in and drive them. One +tattered little boy of ten cracked his sjambok whip behind the bullocks. +He was a small item in that singular crowd, but he was of interest to +us, for his name was Paul Stephanus Kruger. + +It was a strange exodus, only comparable in modern times to the sallying +forth of the Mormons from Nauvoo upon their search for the promised land +of Utah. The country was known and sparsely settled as far north as the +Orange River, but beyond there was a great region which had never +been penetrated save by some daring hunter or adventurous pioneer. It +chanced--if there be indeed such an element as chance in the graver +affairs of man--that a Zulu conqueror had swept over this land and left +it untenanted, save by the dwarf bushmen, the hideous aborigines, +lowest of the human race. There were fine grazing and good soil for +the emigrants. They traveled in small detached parties, but their total +numbers were considerable, from six to ten thousand according to their +historian, or nearly a quarter of the whole population of the colony. +Some of the early bands perished miserably. A large number made a +trysting-place at a high peak to the east of Bloemfontein in what was +lately the Orange Free State. One party of the emigrants was cut off +by the formidable Matabeli, a branch of the great Zulu nation. The +survivors declared war upon them, and showed in this, their first +campaign, the extraordinary ingenuity in adapting their tactics to their +adversary which has been their greatest military characteristic. The +commando which rode out to do battle with the Matabeli numbered, it is +said, a hundred and thirty-five farmers. Their adversaries were twelve +thousand spearmen. They met at the Marico River, near Mafeking. The +Boers combined the use of their horses and of their rifles so cleverly +that they slaughtered a third of their antagonists without any loss to +themselves. Their tactics were to gallop up within range of the enemy, +to fire a volley, and then to ride away again before the spearmen could +reach them. When the savages pursued the Boers fled. When the pursuit +halted the Boers halted and the rifle fire began anew. The strategy was +simple but most effective. When one remembers how often since then our +own horsemen have been pitted against savages in all parts of the world, +one deplores that ignorance of all military traditions save our own +which is characteristic of our service. + +This victory of the 'voortrekkers' cleared all the country between the +Orange River and the Limpopo, the sites of what has been known as the +Transvaal and the Orange Free State. In the meantime another body of +the emigrants had descended into what is now known as Natal, and had +defeated Dingaan, the great Chief of the Zulus. Being unable, owing to +the presence of their families, to employ the cavalry tactics which had +been so effective against the Matabeli, they again used their ingenuity +to meet this new situation, and received the Zulu warriors in a square +of laagered wagons, the men firing while the women loaded. Six burghers +were killed and three thousand Zulus. Had such a formation been used +forty years afterwards against these very Zulus, we should not have had +to mourn the disaster of Isandhlwana. + +And now at the end of their great journey, after overcoming the +difficulties of distance, of nature, and of savage enemies, the Boers +saw at the end of their travels the very thing which they desired +least--that which they had come so far to avoid--the flag of Great +Britain. The Boers had occupied Natal from within, but England had +previously done the same by sea, and a small colony of Englishmen +had settled at Port Natal, now known as Durban. The home Government, +however, had acted in a vacillating way, and it was only the conquest of +Natal by the Boers which caused them to claim it as a British colony. +At the same time they asserted the unwelcome doctrine that a British +subject could not at will throw off his allegiance, and that, go where +they might, the wandering farmers were still only the pioneers of +British colonies. To emphasise the fact three companies of soldiers +were sent in 1842 to what is now Durban--the usual Corporal's guard with +which Great Britain starts a new empire. This handful of men was waylaid +by the Boers and cut up, as their successors have been so often since. +The survivors, however, fortified themselves, and held a defensive +position--as also their successors have done so many times since--until +reinforcements arrived and the farmers dispersed. It is singular how in +history the same factors will always give the same result. Here in this +first skirmish is an epitome of all our military relations with these +people. The blundering headstrong attack, the defeat, the powerlessness +of the farmer against the weakest fortifications--it is the same tale +over and over again in different scales of importance. Natal from this +time onward became a British colony, and the majority of the Boers +trekked north and east with bitter hearts to tell their wrongs to their +brethren of the Orange Free State and of the Transvaal. + +Had they any wrongs to tell? It is difficult to reach that height of +philosophic detachment which enables the historian to deal absolutely +impartially where his own country is a party to the quarrel. But +at least we may allow that there is a case for our adversary. Our +annexation of Natal had been by no means definite, and it was they and +not we who first broke that bloodthirsty Zulu power which threw its +shadow across the country. It was hard after such trials and such +exploits to turn their back upon the fertile land which they had +conquered, and to return to the bare pastures of the upland veld. They +carried out of Natal a heavy sense of injury, which has helped to +poison our relations with them ever since. It was, in a way, a momentous +episode, this little skirmish of soldiers and emigrants, for it was the +heading off of the Boer from the sea and the confinement of his ambition +to the land. Had it gone the other way, a new and possibly formidable +flag would have been added to the maritime nations. + +The emigrants who had settled in the huge tract of country between +the Orange River in the south and the Limpopo in the north had been +recruited by newcomers from the Cape Colony until they numbered some +fifteen thousand souls. This population was scattered over a space +as large as Germany, and larger than Pennsylvania, New York, and New +England. Their form of government was individualistic and democratic to +the last degree compatible with any sort of cohesion. Their wars with +the Kaffirs and their fear and dislike of the British Government appear +to have been the only ties which held them together. They divided +and subdivided within their own borders, like a germinating egg. +The Transvaal was full of lusty little high-mettled communities, +who quarreled among themselves as fiercely as they had done with the +authorities at the Cape. Lydenburg, Zoutpansberg, and Potchefstroom were +on the point of turning their rifles against each other. In the south, +between the Orange River and the Vaal, there was no form of government +at all, but a welter of Dutch farmers, Basutos, Hottentots, and +halfbreeds living in a chronic state of turbulence, recognising neither +the British authority to the south of them nor the Transvaal republics +to the north. The chaos became at last unendurable, and in 1848 a +garrison was placed in Bloemfontein and the district incorporated in the +British Empire. The emigrants made a futile resistance at Boomplaats, +and after a single defeat allowed themselves to be drawn into the +settled order of civilised rule. + +At this period the Transvaal, where most of the Boers had settled, +desired a formal acknowledgment of their independence, which the British +authorities determined once and for all to give them. The great barren +country, which produced little save marksmen, had no attractions for a +Colonial Office which was bent upon the limitation of its liabilities. +A Convention was concluded between the two parties, known as the Sand +River Convention, which is one of the fixed points in South African +history. By it the British Government guaranteed to the Boer farmers the +right to manage their own affairs, and to govern themselves by their +own laws without any interference upon the part of the British. It +stipulated that there should be no slavery, and with that single +reservation washed its hands finally, as it imagined, of the whole +question. So the South African Republic came formally into existence. + +In the very year after the Sand River Convention a second republic, the +Orange Free State, was created by the deliberate withdrawal of Great +Britain from the territory which she had for eight years occupied. The +Eastern Question was already becoming acute, and the cloud of a great +war was drifting up, visible to all men. British statesmen felt that +their commitments were very heavy in every part of the world, and +the South African annexations had always been a doubtful value and an +undoubted trouble. Against the will of a large part of the inhabitants, +whether a majority or not it is impossible to say, we withdrew our +troops as amicably as the Romans withdrew from Britain, and the new +republic was left with absolute and unfettered independence. On a +petition being presented against the withdrawal, the Home Government +actually voted forty-eight thousand pounds to compensate those who had +suffered from the change. Whatever historical grievance the Transvaal +may have against Great Britain, we can at least, save perhaps in one +matter, claim to have a very clear conscience concerning our dealings +with the Orange Free State. Thus in 1852 and in 1854 were born those +sturdy States who were able for a time to hold at bay the united forces +of the empire. + +In the meantime Cape Colony, in spite of these secessions, had prospered +exceedingly, and her population--English, German, and Dutch--had grown +by 1870 to over two hundred thousand souls, the Dutch still slightly +predominating. According to the Liberal colonial policy of Great +Britain, the time had come to cut the cord and let the young nation +conduct its own affairs. In 1872 complete self-government was given +to it, the Governor, as the representative of the Queen, retaining a +nominal unexercised veto upon legislation. According to this system +the Dutch majority of the colony could, and did, put their own +representatives into power and run the government upon Dutch lines. +Already Dutch law had been restored, and Dutch put on the same footing +as English as the official language of the country. The extreme +liberality of such measures, and the uncompromising way in which they +have been carried out, however distasteful the legislation might seem +to English ideas, are among the chief reasons which made the illiberal +treatment of British settlers in the Transvaal so keenly resented at the +Cape. A Dutch Government was ruling the British in a British colony, +at a moment when the Boers would not give an Englishman a vote upon a +municipal council in a city which he had built himself. Unfortunately, +however, 'the evil that men do lives after them,' and the ignorant Boer +farmer continued to imagine that his southern relatives were in bondage, +just as the descendant of the Irish emigrant still pictures an Ireland +of penal laws and an alien Church. + +For twenty-five years after the Sand River Convention the burghers +of the South African Republic had pursued a strenuous and violent +existence, fighting incessantly with the natives and sometimes with +each other, with an occasional fling at the little Dutch republic to the +south. The semi-tropical sun was waking strange ferments in the placid +Friesland blood, and producing a race who added the turbulence and +restlessness of the south to the formidable tenacity of the north. +Strong vitality and violent ambitions produced feuds and rivalries +worthy of medieval Italy, and the story of the factious little +communities is like a chapter out of Guicciardini. Disorganisation +ensued. The burghers would not pay taxes and the treasury was empty. One +fierce Kaffir tribe threatened them from the north, and the Zulus on +the east. It is an exaggeration of English partisans to pretend that our +intervention saved the Boers, for no one can read their military history +without seeing that they were a match for Zulus and Sekukuni combined. +But certainly a formidable invasion was pending, and the scattered +farmhouses were as open to the Kaffirs as our farmers' homesteads were +in the American colonies when the Indians were on the warpath. Sir +Theophilus Shepstone, the British Commissioner, after an inquiry of +three months, solved all questions by the formal annexation of the +country. The fact that he took possession of it with a force of +some twenty-five men showed the honesty of his belief that no armed +resistance was to be feared. This, then, in 1877 was a complete reversal +of the Sand River Convention and the opening of a new chapter in the +history of South Africa. + +There did not appear to be any strong feeling at the time against the +annexation. The people were depressed with their troubles and weary of +contention. Burgers, the President, put in a formal protest, and took +up his abode in Cape Colony, where he had a pension from the British +Government. A memorial against the measure received the signatures of a +majority of the Boer inhabitants, but there was a fair minority who took +the other view. Kruger himself accepted a paid office under Government. +There was every sign that the people, if judiciously handled, would +settle down under the British flag. It is even asserted that they would +themselves have petitioned for annexation had it been longer withheld. +With immediate constitutional government it is possible that even +the most recalcitrant of them might have been induced to lodge their +protests in the ballot boxes rather than in the bodies of our soldiers. + +But the empire has always had poor luck in South Africa, and never +worse than on that occasion. Through no bad faith, but simply through +preoccupation and delay, the promises made were not instantly fulfilled. +Simple primitive men do not understand the ways of our circumlocution +offices, and they ascribe to duplicity what is really red tape and +stupidity. If the Transvaalers had waited they would have had their +Volksraad and all that they wanted. But the British Government had some +other local matters to set right, the rooting out of Sekukuni and the +breaking of the Zulus, before they would fulfill their pledges. The +delay was keenly resented. And we were unfortunate in our choice of +Governor. The burghers are a homely folk, and they like an occasional +cup of coffee with the anxious man who tries to rule them. The three +hundred pounds a year of coffee money allowed by the Transvaal to its +President is by no means a mere form. A wise administrator would fall +into the sociable and democratic habits of the people. Sir Theophilus +Shepstone did so. Sir Owen Lanyon did not. There was no Volksraad and +no coffee, and the popular discontent grew rapidly. In three years the +British had broken up the two savage hordes which had been threatening +the land. The finances, too, had been restored. The reasons which had +made so many favour the annexation were weakened by the very power which +had every interest in preserving them. + +It cannot be too often pointed out that in this annexation, the +starting-point of our troubles, Great Britain, however mistaken she may +have been, had no obvious selfish interest in view. There were no Rand +mines in those days, nor was there anything in the country to tempt the +most covetous. An empty treasury and two native wars were the reversion +which we took over. It was honestly considered that the country was +in too distracted a state to govern itself, and had, by its weakness, +become a scandal and a danger to its neighbours. There was nothing +sordid in our action, though it may have been both injudicious and +high-handed. + +In December 1880 the Boers rose. Every farmhouse sent out its riflemen, +and the trysting-place was the outside of the nearest British fort. All +through the country small detachments were surrounded and besieged +by the farmers. Standerton, Pretoria, Potchefstroom, Lydenburg, +Wakkerstroom, Rustenberg, and Marabastad were all invested and all +held out until the end of the war. In the open country we were less +fortunate. At Bronkhorst Spruit a small British force was taken by +surprise and shot down without harm to their antagonists. The surgeon +who treated them has left it on record that the average number of +wounds was five per man. At Laing's Nek an inferior force of British +endeavoured to rush a hill which was held by Boer riflemen. Half of our +men were killed and wounded. Ingogo may be called a drawn battle, though +our loss was more heavy than that of the enemy. Finally came the +defeat of Majuba Hill, where four hundred infantry upon a mountain were +defeated and driven off by a swarm of sharpshooters who advanced under +the cover of boulders. Of all these actions there was not one which +was more than a skirmish, and had they been followed by a final British +victory they would now be hardly remembered. It is the fact that they +were skirmishes which succeeded in their object which has given them +an importance which is exaggerated. At the same time they may mark the +beginning of a new military era, for they drove home the fact--only too +badly learned by us--that it is the rifle and not the drill which makes +the soldier. It is bewildering that after such an experience the +British military authorities continued to serve out only three hundred +cartridges a year for rifle practice, and that they still encouraged +that mechanical volley firing which destroys all individual aim. With +the experience of the first Boer war behind them, little was done, +either in tactics or in musketry, to prepare the soldier for the second. +The value of the mounted rifleman, the shooting with accuracy at unknown +ranges, the art of taking cover--all were equally neglected. + +The defeat at Majuba Hill was followed by the complete surrender of the +Gladstonian Government, an act which was either the most pusillanimous +or the most magnanimous in recent history. It is hard for the big man +to draw away from the small before blows are struck but when the big man +has been knocked down three times it is harder still. An overwhelming +British force was in the field, and the General declared that he held +the enemy in the hollow of his hand. Our military calculations have been +falsified before now by these farmers, and it may be that the task +of Wood and Roberts would have been harder than they imagined; but on +paper, at least, it looked as if the enemy could be crushed without +difficulty. So the public thought, and yet they consented to the +upraised sword being stayed. With them, as apart from the politicians, +the motive was undoubtedly a moral and Christian one. They considered +that the annexation of the Transvaal had evidently been an injustice, +that the farmers had a right to the freedom for which they fought, and +that it was an unworthy thing for a great nation to continue an unjust +war for the sake of a military revenge. It was the height of idealism, +and the result has not been such as to encourage its repetition. + +An armistice was concluded on March 5th, 1881, which led up to a peace +on the 23rd of the same month. The Government, after yielding to force +what it had repeatedly refused to friendly representations, made +a clumsy compromise in their settlement. A policy of idealism and +Christian morality should have been thorough if it were to be tried +at all. It was obvious that if the annexation were unjust, then the +Transvaal should have reverted to the condition in which it was before +the annexation, as defined by the Sand River Convention. But the +Government for some reason would not go so far as this. They niggled +and quibbled and bargained until the State was left as a curious hybrid +thing such as the world has never seen. It was a republic which was +part of the system of a monarchy, dealt with by the Colonial Office, +and included under the heading of 'Colonies' in the news columns of the +'Times.' It was autonomous, and yet subject to some vague suzerainty, +the limits of which no one has ever been able to define. Altogether, in +its provisions and in its omissions, the Convention of Pretoria appears +to prove that our political affairs were as badly conducted as our +military in this unfortunate year of 1881. + +It was evident from the first that so illogical and contentious an +agreement could not possibly prove to be a final settlement, and indeed +the ink of the signatures was hardly dry before an agitation was on foot +for its revision. The Boers considered, and with justice, that if they +were to be left as undisputed victors in the war then they should have +the full fruits of victory. On the other hand, the English-speaking +colonies had their allegiance tested to the uttermost. The proud +Anglo-Celtic stock is not accustomed to be humbled, and yet they found +themselves through the action of the home Government converted into +members of a beaten race. It was very well for the citizen of London to +console his wounded pride by the thought that he had done a magnanimous +action, but it was different with the British colonist of Durban or Cape +Town, who by no act of his own, and without any voice in the settlement, +found himself humiliated before his Dutch neighbour. An ugly feeling of +resentment was left behind, which might perhaps have passed away had the +Transvaal accepted the settlement in the spirit in which it was meant, +but which grew more and more dangerous as during eighteen years our +people saw, or thought that they saw, that one concession led always +to a fresh demand, and that the Dutch republics aimed not merely at +equality, but at dominance in South Africa. Professor Bryce, a friendly +critic, after a personal examination of the country and the question, +has left it upon record that the Boers saw neither generosity nor +humanity in our conduct, but only fear. An outspoken race, they conveyed +their feelings to their neighbours. Can it be wondered at that South +Africa has been in a ferment ever since, and that the British Africander +has yearned with an intensity of feeling unknown in England for the hour +of revenge? + +The Government of the Transvaal after the war was left in the hands of a +triumvirate, but after one year Kruger became President, an office which +he continued to hold for eighteen years. His career as ruler vindicates +the wisdom of that wise but unwritten provision of the American +Constitution by which there is a limit to the tenure of this office. +Continued rule for half a generation must turn a man into an autocrat. +The old President has said himself, in his homely but shrewd way, that +when one gets a good ox to lead the team it is a pity to change him. +If a good ox, however, is left to choose his own direction without +guidance, he may draw his wagon into trouble. + +During three years the little State showed signs of a tumultuous +activity. Considering that it was as large as France and that the +population could not have been more than 50,000, one would have thought +that they might have found room without any inconvenient crowding. +But the burghers passed beyond their borders in every direction. The +President cried aloud that he had been shut up in a kraal, and he +proceeded to find ways out of it. A great trek was projected for the +north, but fortunately it miscarried. To the east they raided Zululand, +and succeeded, in defiance of the British settlement of that country, +in tearing away one third of it and adding it to the Transvaal. To +the west, with no regard to the three-year-old treaty, they invaded +Bechuanaland, and set up the two new republics of Goshen and Stellaland. +So outrageous were these proceedings that Great Britain was forced +to fit out in 1884 a new expedition under Sir Charles Warren for the +purpose of turning these freebooters out of the country. It may be +asked, why should these men be called freebooters if the founders of +Rhodesia were pioneers? The answer is that the Transvaal was limited +by treaty to certain boundaries which these men transgressed, while no +pledges were broken when the British power expanded to the north. The +upshot of these trespasses was the scene upon which every drama of South +Africa rings down. Once more the purse was drawn from the pocket of +the unhappy taxpayer, and a million or so was paid out to defray the +expenses of the police force necessary to keep these treaty-breakers in +order. Let this be borne in mind when we assess the moral and material +damage done to the Transvaal by that ill-conceived and foolish +enterprise, the Jameson Raid. + +In 1884 a deputation from the Transvaal visited England, and at their +solicitation the clumsy Treaty of Pretoria was altered into the still +more clumsy Convention of London. The changes in the provisions were all +in favour of the Boers, and a second successful war could hardly have +given them more than Lord Derby handed them in time of peace. Their +style was altered from the Transvaal to the South African Republic, a +change which was ominously suggestive of expansion in the future. The +control of Great Britain over their foreign policy was also relaxed, +though a power of veto was retained. But the most important thing of +all, and the fruitful cause of future trouble, lay in an omission. A +suzerainty is a vague term, but in politics, as in theology, the more +nebulous a thing is the more does it excite the imagination and the +passions of men. This suzerainty was declared in the preamble of the +first treaty, and no mention of it was made in the second. Was it +thereby abrogated or was it not? The British contention was that only +the articles were changed, and that the preamble continued to hold good +for both treaties. They pointed out that not only the suzerainty, but +also the independence, of the Transvaal was proclaimed in that preamble, +and that if one lapsed the other must do so also. On the other hand, +the Boers pointed to the fact that there was actually a preamble to the +second Convention, which would seem, therefore, to have taken the place +of the first. The point is so technical that it appears to be eminently +one of those questions which might with propriety have been submitted to +the decision of a board of foreign jurists--or possibly to the Supreme +Court of the United States. If the decision had been given against Great +Britain, we might have accepted it in a chastened spirit as a fitting +punishment for the carelessness of the representative who failed to +make our meaning intelligible. Carlyle has said that a political mistake +always ends in a broken head for somebody. Unfortunately the somebody is +usually somebody else. We have read the story of the political mistakes. +Only too soon we shall come to the broken heads. + +This, then, is a synopsis of what had occurred up to the signing of +the Convention, which finally established, or failed to establish, the +position of the South African Republic. We must now leave the larger +questions, and descend to the internal affairs of that small State, and +especially to that train of events which has stirred the mind of our +people more than anything since the Indian Mutiny. + + + +CHAPTER 2. THE CAUSE OF QUARREL. + +There might almost seem to be some subtle connection between the +barrenness and worthlessness of a surface and the value of the minerals +which lie beneath it. The craggy mountains of Western America, the arid +plains of West Australia, the ice-bound gorges of the Klondyke, and the +bare slopes of the Witwatersrand veld--these are the lids which cover +the great treasure chests of the world. + +Gold had been known to exist in the Transvaal before, but it was only in +1886 that it was realised that the deposits which lie some thirty miles +south of the capital are of a very extraordinary and valuable nature. +The proportion of gold in the quartz is not particularly high, nor are +the veins of a remarkable thickness, but the peculiarity of the Rand +mines lies in the fact that throughout this 'banket' formation the metal +is so uniformly distributed that the enterprise can claim a certainty +which is not usually associated with the industry. It is quarrying +rather than mining. Add to this that the reefs which were originally +worked as outcrops have now been traced to enormous depths, and present +the same features as those at the surface. A conservative estimate of +the value of the gold has placed it at seven hundred millions of pounds. + +Such a discovery produced the inevitable effect. A great number of +adventurers flocked into the country, some desirable and some very much +the reverse. There were circumstances, however, which kept away +the rowdy and desperado element who usually make for a newly opened +goldfield. It was not a class of mining which encouraged the individual +adventurer. There were none of those nuggets which gleamed through +the mud of the dollies at Ballarat, or recompensed the forty-niners in +California for all their travels and their toils. It was a field for +elaborate machinery, which could only be provided by capital. Managers, +engineers, miners, technical experts, and the tradesmen and middlemen +who live upon them, these were the Uitlanders, drawn from all the races +under the sun, but with the Anglo-Celtic vastly predominant. The best +engineers were American, the best miners were Cornish, the best managers +were English, the money to run the mines was largely subscribed in +England. As time went on, however, the German and French interests +became more extensive, until their joint holdings are now probably as +heavy as those of the British. Soon the population of the mining centres +became greater than that of the whole Boer community, and consisted +mainly of men in the prime of life--men, too, of exceptional +intelligence and energy. + +The situation was an extraordinary one. I have already attempted to +bring the problem home to an American by suggesting that the Dutch +of New York had trekked west and founded an anti-American and highly +unprogressive State. To carry out the analogy we will now suppose that +that State was California, that the gold of that State attracted a +large inrush of American citizens, who came to outnumber the original +inhabitants, that these citizens were heavily taxed and badly used, and +that they deafened Washington with their outcry about their injuries. +That would be a fair parallel to the relations between the Transvaal, +the Uitlanders, and the British Government. + +That these Uitlanders had very real and pressing grievances no one could +possibly deny. To recount them all would be a formidable task, for their +whole lives were darkened by injustice. There was not a wrong which had +driven the Boer from Cape Colony which he did not now practise himself +upon others--and a wrong may be excusable in 1885 which is monstrous +in 1895. The primitive virtue which had characterised the farmers broke +down in the face of temptation. The country Boers were little affected, +some of them not at all, but the Pretoria Government became a most +corrupt oligarchy, venal and incompetent to the last degree. Officials +and imported Hollanders handled the stream of gold which came in from +the mines, while the unfortunate Uitlander who paid nine-tenths of the +taxation was fleeced at every turn, and met with laughter and taunts +when he endeavoured to win the franchise by which he might peaceably +set right the wrongs from which he suffered. He was not an unreasonable +person. On the contrary, he was patient to the verge of meekness, +as capital is likely to be when it is surrounded by rifles. But his +situation was intolerable, and after successive attempts at peaceful +agitation, and numerous humble petitions to the Volksraad, he began at +last to realise that he would never obtain redress unless he could find +some way of winning it for himself. + +Without attempting to enumerate all the wrongs which embittered the +Uitlanders, the more serious of them may be summed up in this way. + +1. That they were heavily taxed and provided about seven-eighths of the +revenue of the country. The revenue of the South African Republic--which +had been 154,000 pounds in 1886, when the gold fields were opened--had +grown in 1899 to four million pounds, and the country through the +industry of the newcomers had changed from one of the poorest to the +richest in the whole world (per head of population). + +2. That in spite of this prosperity which they had brought, they, the +majority of the inhabitants of the country, were left without a vote, +and could by no means influence the disposal of the great sums which +they were providing. Such a case of taxation without representation has +never been known. + +3. That they had no voice in the choice or payment of officials. Men of +the worst private character might be placed with complete authority over +valuable interests. Upon one occasion the Minister of Mines attempted +himself to jump a mine, having officially learned some flaw in its +title. The total official salaries had risen in 1899 to a sum sufficient +to pay 40 pounds per head to the entire male Boer population. + +4. That they had no control over education. Mr. John Robinson, the +Director General of the Johannesburg Educational Council, has reckoned +the sum spent on Uitlander schools as 650 pounds out of 63,000 pounds +allotted for education, making one shilling and tenpence per head per +annum on Uitlander children, and eight pounds six shillings per head +on Boer children--the Uitlander, as always, paying seven-eighths of the +original sum. + +5. No power of municipal government. Watercarts instead of pipes, +filthy buckets instead of drains, a corrupt and violent police, a high +death-rate in what should be a health resort--all this in a city which +they had built themselves. + +6. Despotic government in the matter of the press and of the right of +public meeting. + +7. Disability from service upon a jury. + +8. Continual harassing of the mining interest by vexatious legislation. +Under this head came many grievances, some special to the mines and some +affecting all Uitlanders. The dynamite monopoly, by which the miners had +to pay 600,000 pounds extra per annum in order to get a worse quality +of dynamite; the liquor laws, by which one-third of the Kaffirs were +allowed to be habitually drunk; the incompetence and extortions of the +State-owned railway; the granting of concessions for numerous articles +of ordinary consumption to individuals, by which high prices were +maintained; the surrounding of Johannesburg by tolls from which the town +had no profit--these were among the economical grievances, some large, +some petty, which ramified through every transaction of life. + +And outside and beyond all these definite wrongs imagine to a free born +progressive man, an American or a Briton, the constant irritation of +being absolutely ruled by a body of twenty-five men, twenty-one of +whom had in the case of the Selati Railway Company been publicly and +circumstantially accused of bribery, with full details of the bribes +received, while to their corruption they added such crass ignorance that +they argue in the published reports of the Volksraad debates that using +dynamite bombs to bring down rain was firing at God, that it is impious +to destroy locusts, that the word 'participate' should not be used +because it is not in the Bible, and that postal pillar boxes are +extravagant and effeminate. Such obiter dicta may be amusing at a +distance, but they are less entertaining when they come from an autocrat +who has complete power over the conditions of your life. + +From the fact that they were a community extremely preoccupied by +their own business, it followed that the Uitlanders were not ardent +politicians, and that they desired to have a share in the government of +the State for the purpose of making the conditions of their own industry +and of their own daily lives more endurable. How far there was need of +such an interference may be judged by any fair-minded man who reads the +list of their complaints. A superficial view may recognise the Boers as +the champions of liberty, but a deeper insight must see that they (as +represented by their elected rulers) have in truth stood for all +that history has shown to be odious in the form of exclusiveness and +oppression. Their conception of liberty has been a selfish one, and they +have consistently inflicted upon others far heavier wrongs than those +against which they had themselves rebelled. + +As the mines increased in importance and the miners in numbers, it +was found that these political disabilities affected some of that +cosmopolitan crowd far more than others, in proportion to the amount of +freedom to which their home institutions had made them accustomed. The +continental Uitlanders were more patient of that which was unendurable +to the American and the Briton. The Americans, however, were in so great +a minority that it was upon the British that the brunt of the struggle +for freedom fell. Apart from the fact that the British were more +numerous than all the other Uitlanders combined, there were special +reasons why they should feel their humiliating position more than the +members of any other race. In the first place, many of the British were +British South Africans, who knew that in the neighbouring countries +which gave them birth the most liberal possible institutions had been +given to the kinsmen of these very Boers who were refusing them the +management of their own drains and water supply. And again, every Briton +knew that Great Britain claimed to be the paramount power in South +Africa, and so he felt as if his own land, to which he might have looked +for protection, was conniving at and acquiescing in his ill treatment. +As citizens of the paramount power, it was peculiarly galling that they +should be held in political subjection. The British, therefore, were the +most persistent and energetic of the agitators. + +But it is a poor cause which cannot bear to fairly state and honestly +consider the case of its opponents. The Boers had made, as has been +briefly shown, great efforts to establish a country of their own. They +had travelled far, worked hard, and fought bravely. After all their +efforts they were fated to see an influx of strangers into their +country, some of them men of questionable character, who outnumbered +the original inhabitants. If the franchise were granted to these, +there could be no doubt that though at first the Boers might control +a majority of the votes, it was only a question of time before the +newcomers would dominate the Raad and elect their own President, who +might adopt a policy abhorrent to the original owners of the land. Were +the Boers to lose by the ballot-box the victory which they had won by +their rifles? Was it fair to expect it? These newcomers came for gold. +They got their gold. Their companies paid a hundred per cent. Was not +that enough to satisfy them? If they did not like the country why did +they not leave it? No one compelled them to stay there. But if they +stayed, let them be thankful that they were tolerated at all, and not +presume to interfere with the laws of those by whose courtesy they were +allowed to enter the country. + +That is a fair statement of the Boer position, and at first sight an +impartial man might say that there was a good deal to say for it; but +a closer examination would show that, though it might be tenable in +theory, it is unjust and impossible in practice. + +In the present crowded state of the world a policy of Thibet may be +carried out in some obscure corner, but it cannot be done in a great +tract of country which lies right across the main line of industrial +progress. The position is too absolutely artificial. A handful of people +by the right of conquest take possession of an enormous country over +which they are dotted at such intervals that it is their boast that one +farmhouse cannot see the smoke of another, and yet, though their numbers +are so disproportionate to the area which they cover, they refuse to +admit any other people upon equal terms, but claim to be a privileged +class who shall dominate the newcomers completely. They are outnumbered +in their own land by immigrants who are far more highly educated and +progressive, and yet they hold them down in a way which exists nowhere +else upon earth. What is their right? The right of conquest. Then the +same right may be justly invoked to reverse so intolerable a situation. +This they would themselves acknowledge. 'Come on and fight! Come on!' +cried a member of the Volksraad when the franchise petition of the +Uitlanders was presented. 'Protest! Protest! What is the good of +protesting?' said Kruger to Mr. W. Y. Campbell; 'you have not got the +guns, I have.' There was always the final court of appeal. Judge Creusot +and Judge Mauser were always behind the President. + +Again, the argument of the Boers would be more valid had they received +no benefit from these immigrants. If they had ignored them they might +fairly have stated that they did not desire their presence. But even +while they protested they grew rich at the Uitlander's expense. They +could not have it both ways. It would be consistent to discourage him +and not profit by him, or to make him comfortable and build the State +upon his money; but to ill-treat him and at the same time to grow strong +by his taxation must surely be an injustice. + +And again, the whole argument is based upon the narrow racial +supposition that every naturalised citizen not of Boer extraction must +necessarily be unpatriotic. This is not borne out by the examples +of history. The newcomer soon becomes as proud of his country and +as jealous of her liberty as the old. Had President Kruger given the +franchise generously to the Uitlander, his pyramid would have been +firm upon its base and not balanced upon its apex. It is true that the +corrupt oligarchy would have vanished, and the spirit of a broader more +tolerant freedom influenced the counsels of the State. But the republic +would have become stronger and more permanent, with a population who, +if they differed in details, were united in essentials. Whether such a +solution would have been to the advantage of British interests in South +Africa is quite another question. In more ways than one President Kruger +has been a good friend to the empire. + +So much upon the general question of the reason why the Uitlander should +agitate and why the Boer was obdurate. The details of the long struggle +between the seekers for the franchise and the refusers of it may be +quickly sketched, but they cannot be entirely ignored by any one who +desires to understand the inception of that great contest which was the +outcome of the dispute. + +At the time of the Convention of Pretoria (1881) the rights of +burghership might be obtained by one year's residence. In 1882 it was +raised to five years, the reasonable limit which obtains both in Great +Britain and in the United States. Had it remained so, it is safe to say +that there would never have been either an Uitlander question or a great +Boer war. Grievances would have been righted from the inside without +external interference. + +In 1890 the inrush of outsiders alarmed the Boers, and the franchise was +raised so as to be only attainable by those who had lived fourteen years +in the country. The Uitlanders, who were increasing rapidly in numbers +and were suffering from the formidable list of grievances already +enumerated, perceived that their wrongs were so numerous that it was +hopeless to have them set right seriatim, and that only by obtaining the +leverage of the franchise could they hope to move the heavy burden which +weighed them down. In 1893 a petition of 13,000 Uitlanders, couched +in most respectful terms, was submitted to the Raad, but met with +contemptuous neglect. Undeterred, however, by this failure, the National +Reform Union, an association which organised the agitation, came back to +the attack in 1894. They drew up a petition which was signed by 35,000 +adult male Uitlanders, a greater number than the total Boer male +population of the country. A small liberal body in the Raad supported +this memorial and endeavoured in vain to obtain some justice for the +newcomers. Mr. Jeppe was the mouthpiece of this select band. 'They own +half the soil, they pay at least three quarters of the taxes,' said he. +'They are men who in capital, energy, and education are at least our +equals. + +What will become of us or our children on that day when we may find +ourselves in a minority of one in twenty without a single friend among +the other nineteen, among those who will then tell us that they wished +to be brothers, but that we by our own act have made them strangers to +the republic?' Such reasonable and liberal sentiments were combated by +members who asserted that the signatures could not belong to law-abiding +citizens, since they were actually agitating against the law of the +franchise, and others whose intolerance was expressed by the defiance of +the member already quoted, who challenged the Uitlanders to come out and +fight. The champions of exclusiveness and racial hatred won the day. The +memorial was rejected by sixteen votes to eight, and the franchise law +was, on the initiative of the President, actually made more stringent +than ever, being framed in such a way that during the fourteen years of +probation the applicant should give up his previous nationality, so that +for that period he would really belong to no country at all. No hopes +were held out that any possible attitude upon the part of the Uitlanders +would soften the determination of the President and his burghers. One +who remonstrated was led outside the State buildings by the President, +who pointed up at the national flag. 'You see that flag?' said he. 'If I +grant the franchise, I may as well pull it down.' His animosity against +the immigrants was bitter. 'Burghers, friends, thieves, murderers, +newcomers, and others,' is the conciliatory opening of one of his public +addresses. Though Johannesburg is only thirty-two miles from Pretoria, +and though the State of which he was the head depended for its revenue +upon the gold fields, he paid it only three visits in nine years. + +This settled animosity was deplorable, but not unnatural. A man imbued +with the idea of a chosen people, and unread in any book save the one +which cultivates this very idea, could not be expected to have learned +the historical lessons of the advantages which a State reaps from a +liberal policy. To him it was as if the Ammonites and Moabites had +demanded admission into the twelve tribes. He mistook an agitation +against the exclusive policy of the State for one against the existence +of the State itself. A wide franchise would have made his republic +firm-based and permanent. It was a small minority of the Uitlanders who +had any desire to come into the British system. They were a cosmopolitan +crowd, only united by the bond of a common injustice. But when every +other method had failed, and their petition for the rights of freemen +had been flung back at them, it was natural that their eyes should +turn to that flag which waved to the north, the west, and the south of +them--the flag which means purity of government with equal rights and +equal duties for all men. Constitutional agitation was laid aside, arms +were smuggled in, and everything prepared for an organised rising. + +The events which followed at the beginning of 1896 have been so thrashed +out that there is, perhaps, nothing left to tell--except the truth. So +far as the Uitlanders themselves are concerned, their action was most +natural and justifiable, and they have no reason to exculpate themselves +for rising against such oppression as no men of our race have ever been +submitted to. Had they trusted only to themselves and the justice of +their cause, their moral and even their material position would have +been infinitely stronger. But unfortunately there were forces behind +them which were more questionable, the nature and extent of which have +never yet, in spite of two commissions of investigation, been properly +revealed. That there should have been any attempt at misleading inquiry, +or suppressing documents in order to shelter individuals, is deplorable, +for the impression left--I believe an entirely false one--must be that +the British Government connived at an expedition which was as immoral as +it was disastrous. + +It had been arranged that the town was to rise upon a certain night, +that Pretoria should be attacked, the fort seized, and the rifles and +ammunition used to arm the Uitlanders. It was a feasible device, though +it must seem to us, who have had such an experience of the military +virtues of the burghers, a very desperate one. But it is conceivable +that the rebels might have held Johannesburg until the universal +sympathy which their cause excited throughout South Africa would have +caused Great Britain to intervene. Unfortunately they had complicated +matters by asking for outside help. Mr. Cecil Rhodes was Premier of the +Cape, a man of immense energy, and one who had rendered great services +to the empire. The motives of his action are obscure--certainly, we +may say that they were not sordid, for he has always been a man whose +thoughts were large and whose habits were simple. But whatever they may +have been--whether an ill-regulated desire to consolidate South Africa +under British rule, or a burning sympathy with the Uitlanders in their +fight against injustice--it is certain that he allowed his lieutenant, +Dr. Jameson, to assemble the mounted police of the Chartered Company, of +which Rhodes was founder and director, for the purpose of co-operating +with the rebels at Johannesburg. Moreover, when the revolt at +Johannesburg was postponed, on account of a disagreement as to which +flag they were to rise under, it appears that Jameson (with or without +the orders of Rhodes) forced the hand of the conspirators by invading +the country with a force absurdly inadequate to the work which he had +taken in hand. Five hundred policemen and three field guns made up the +forlorn hope who started from near Mafeking and crossed the Transvaal +border upon December 29th, 1895. On January 2nd they were surrounded by +the Boers amid the broken country near Dornkop, and after losing many +of their number killed and wounded, without food and with spent horses, +they were compelled to lay down their arms. Six burghers lost their +lives in the skirmish. + +The Uitlanders have been severely criticised for not having sent out a +force to help Jameson in his difficulties, but it is impossible to see +how they could have acted in any other manner. They had done all they +could to prevent Jameson coming to their relief, and now it was rather +unreasonable to suppose that they should relieve their reliever. Indeed, +they had an entirely exaggerated idea of the strength of the force which +he was bringing, and received the news of his capture with incredulity. +When it became confirmed they rose, but in a halfhearted fashion +which was not due to want of courage, but to the difficulties of their +position. On the one hand, the British Government disowned Jameson +entirely, and did all it could to discourage the rising; on the other, +the President had the raiders in his keeping at Pretoria, and let it +be understood that their fate depended upon the behaviour of the +Uitlanders. They were led to believe that Jameson would be shot unless +they laid down their arms, though, as a matter of fact, Jameson and +his people had surrendered upon a promise of quarter. So skillfully did +Kruger use his hostages that he succeeded, with the help of the British +Commissioner, in getting the thousands of excited Johannesburgers to +lay down their arms without bloodshed. Completely out-manoeuvred by the +astute old President, the leaders of the reform movement used all their +influence in the direction of peace, thinking that a general amnesty +would follow; but the moment that they and their people were helpless +the detectives and armed burghers occupied the town, and sixty of their +number were hurried to Pretoria Gaol. + +To the raiders themselves the President behaved with great generosity. +Perhaps he could not find it in his heart to be harsh to the men who +had managed to put him in the right and won for him the sympathy of the +world. His own illiberal and oppressive treatment of the newcomers was +forgotten in the face of this illegal inroad of filibusters. The true +issues were so obscured by this intrusion that it has taken years +to clear them, and perhaps they will never be wholly cleared. It was +forgotten that it was the bad government of the country which was the +real cause of the unfortunate raid. From then onwards the government +might grow worse and worse, but it was always possible to point to +the raid as justifying everything. Were the Uitlanders to have the +franchise? How could they expect it after the raid? Would Britain object +to the enormous importation of arms and obvious preparations for war? +They were only precautions against a second raid. For years the raid +stood in the way, not only of all progress, but of all remonstrance. +Through an action over which they had no control, and which they had +done their best to prevent, the British Government was left with a bad +case and a weakened moral authority. + +The raiders were sent home, where the rank and file were very properly +released, and the chief officers were condemned to terms of imprisonment +which certainly did not err upon the side of severity. Cecil Rhodes was +left unpunished, he retained his place in the Privy Council, and his +Chartered Company continued to have a corporate existence. This was +illogical and inconclusive. As Kruger said, 'It is not the dog which +should be beaten, but the man who set him on to me.' Public opinion--in +spite of, or on account of, a crowd of witnesses--was ill informed upon +the exact bearings of the question, and it was obvious that as Dutch +sentiment at the Cape appeared already to be thoroughly hostile to us, +it would be dangerous to alienate the British Africanders also by +making a martyr of their favourite leader. But whatever arguments may be +founded upon expediency, it is clear that the Boers bitterly resented, +and with justice, the immunity of Rhodes. + +In the meantime, both President Kruger and his burghers had shown a +greater severity to the political prisoners from Johannesburg than to +the armed followers of Jameson. The nationality of these prisoners is +interesting and suggestive. There were twenty-three Englishmen, sixteen +South Africans, nine Scotchmen, six Americans, two Welshmen, one +Irishman, one Australian, one Hollander, one Bavarian, one Canadian, +one Swiss, and one Turk. The prisoners were arrested in January, but the +trial did not take place until the end of April. All were found guilty +of high treason. Mr. Lionel Phillips, Colonel Rhodes (brother of Mr. +Cecil Rhodes), George Farrar, and Mr. Hammond, the American engineer, +were condemned to death, a sentence which was afterwards commuted to the +payment of an enormous fine. The other prisoners were condemned to two +years' imprisonment, with a fine of 2000 pounds each. The imprisonment +was of the most arduous and trying sort, and was embittered by the +harshness of the gaoler, Du Plessis. One of the unfortunate men cut +his throat, and several fell seriously ill, the diet and the sanitary +conditions being equally unhealthy. At last at the end of May all the +prisoners but six were released. Four of the six soon followed, two +stalwarts, Sampson and Davies, refusing to sign any petition and +remaining in prison until they were set free in 1897. Altogether the +Transvaal Government received in fines from the reform prisoners the +enormous sum of 212,000 pounds. A certain comic relief was immediately +afterwards given to so grave an episode by the presentation of a bill to +Great Britain for 1,677, 938 pounds 3 shillings and 3 pence--the greater +part of which was under the heading of moral and intellectual damage. + +The raid was past and the reform movement was past, but the causes which +produced them both remained. It is hardly conceivable that a statesman +who loved his country would have refrained from making some effort to +remove a state of things which had already caused such grave dangers, +and which must obviously become more serious with every year that +passed. But Paul Kruger had hardened his heart, and was not to be moved. +The grievances of the Uitlanders became heavier than ever. The one +power in the land to which they had been able to appeal for some sort +of redress amid their grievances was the law courts. Now it was decreed +that the courts should be dependent on the Volksraad. The Chief Justice +protested against such a degradation of his high office, and he was +dismissed in consequence without a pension. The judge who had condemned +the reformers was chosen to fill the vacancy, and the protection of a +fixed law was withdrawn from the Uitlanders. + +A commission appointed by the State was sent to examine into the +condition of the mining industry and the grievances from which the +newcomers suffered. The chairman was Mr. Schalk Burger, one of the most +liberal of the Boers, and the proceedings were thorough and impartial. +The result was a report which amply vindicated the reformers, and +suggested remedies which would have gone a long way towards satisfying +the Uitlanders. With such enlightened legislation their motives for +seeking the franchise would have been less pressing. But the President +and his Raad would have none of the recommendations of the commission. +The rugged old autocrat declared that Schalk Burger was a traitor to +his country for having signed such a document, and a new reactionary +committee was chosen to report upon the report. Words and papers were +the only outcome of the affair. No amelioration came to the newcomers. +But at least they had again put their case publicly upon record, and it +had been endorsed by the most respected of the burghers. Gradually in +the press of the English-speaking countries the raid was ceasing to +obscure the issue. More and more clearly it was coming out that no +permanent settlement was possible where the majority of the population +was oppressed by the minority. They had tried peaceful means and failed. +They had tried warlike means and failed. What was there left for them +to do? Their own country, the paramount power of South Africa, had never +helped them. Perhaps if it were directly appealed to it might do so. It +could not, if only for the sake of its own imperial prestige, leave its +children for ever in a state of subjection. The Uitlanders determined +upon a petition to the Queen, and in doing so they brought their +grievances out of the limits of a local controversy into the broader +field of international politics. Great Britain must either protect them +or acknowledge that their protection was beyond her power. A direct +petition to the Queen praying for protection was signed in April 1899 by +twenty-one thousand Uitlanders. From that time events moved inevitably +towards the one end. Sometimes the surface was troubled and sometimes +smooth, but the stream always ran swiftly and the roar of the fall +sounded ever louder in the ears. + + + +CHAPTER 3. THE NEGOTIATIONS. + +The British Government and the British people do not desire any direct +authority in South Africa. Their one supreme interest is that the +various States there should live in concord and prosperity, and that +there should be no need for the presence of a British redcoat within the +whole great peninsula. Our foreign critics, with their misapprehension +of the British colonial system, can never realise that whether +the four-coloured flag of the Transvaal or the Union Jack of a +self-governing colony waved over the gold mines would not make the +difference of one shilling to the revenue of Great Britain. The +Transvaal as a British province would have its own legislature, its +own revenue, its own expenditure, and its own tariff against the mother +country, as well as against the rest of the world, and England be none +the richer for the change. This is so obvious to a Briton that he has +ceased to insist upon it, and it is for that reason perhaps that it is +so universally misunderstood abroad. On the other hand, while she is no +gainer by the change, most of the expense of it in blood and in money +falls upon the home country. On the face of it, therefore, Great Britain +had every reason to avoid so formidable a task as the conquest of the +South African Republic. At the best she had nothing to gain, and at the +worst she had an immense deal to lose. There was no room for ambition or +aggression. It was a case of shirking or fulfilling a most arduous duty. + +There could be no question of a plot for the annexation of the +Transvaal. In a free country the Government cannot move in advance of +public opinion, and public opinion is influenced by and reflected in the +newspapers. One may examine the files of the press during all the months +of negotiations and never find one reputable opinion in favour of such a +course, nor did one in society ever meet an advocate of such a measure. +But a great wrong was being done, and all that was asked was the minimum +change which would set it right, and restore equality between the white +races in Africa. 'Let Kruger only be liberal in the extension of the +franchise,' said the paper which is most representative of the sanest +British opinion, 'and he will find that the power of the republic will +become not weaker, but infinitely more secure. Let him once give the +majority of the resident males of full age the full vote, and he will +have given the republic a stability and power which nothing else can. If +he rejects all pleas of this kind, and persists in his present policy, +he may possibly stave off the evil day, and preserve his cherished +oligarchy for another few years; but the end will be the same.' +The extract reflects the tone of all of the British press, with the +exception of one or two papers which considered that even the +persistent ill usage of our people, and the fact that we were peculiarly +responsible for them in this State, did not justify us in interfering +in the internal affairs of the republic. It cannot be denied that +the Jameson raid and the incomplete manner in which the circumstances +connected with it had been investigated had weakened the force of those +who wished to interfere energetically on behalf of British subjects. +There was a vague but widespread feeling that perhaps the capitalists +were engineering the situation for their own ends. It is difficult to +imagine how a state of unrest and insecurity, to say nothing of a +state of war, can ever be to the advantage of capital, and surely it +is obvious that if some arch-schemer were using the grievances of the +Uitlanders for his own ends the best way to checkmate him would be to +remove those grievances. The suspicion, however, did exist among those +who like to ignore the obvious and magnify the remote, and throughout +the negotiations the hand of Great Britain was weakened, as her +adversary had doubtless calculated that it would be, by an earnest +but fussy and faddy minority. Idealism and a morbid, restless +conscientiousness are two of the most dangerous evils from which a +modern progressive State has to suffer. + +It was in April 1899 that the British Uitlanders sent their petition +praying for protection to their native country. Since the April previous +a correspondence had been going on between Dr. Leyds, Secretary of State +for the South African Republic, and Mr. Chamberlain, Colonial Secretary, +upon the existence or non-existence of the suzerainty. On the one +hand, it was contended that the substitution of a second convention +had entirely annulled the first; on the other, that the preamble of +the first applied also to the second. If the Transvaal contention were +correct it is clear that Great Britain had been tricked and jockeyed +into such a position, since she had received no quid pro quo in the +second convention, and even the most careless of Colonial Secretaries +could hardly have been expected to give away a very substantial +something for nothing. But the contention throws us back upon the +academic question of what a suzerainty is. The Transvaal admitted a +power of veto over their foreign policy, and this admission in itself, +unless they openly tore up the convention, must deprive them of the +position of a sovereign State. On the whole, the question must be +acknowledged to have been one which might very well have been referred +to trustworthy arbitration. + +But now to this debate, which had so little of urgency in it that seven +months intervened between statement and reply, there came the bitterly +vital question of the wrongs and appeal of the Uitlanders. Sir Alfred +Milner, the British Commissioner in South Africa, a man of liberal +views who had been appointed by a Conservative Government, commanded the +respect and confidence of all parties. His record was that of an +able, clear-headed man, too just to be either guilty of or tolerant of +injustice. To him the matter was referred, and a conference was arranged +between President Kruger and him at Bloemfontein, the capital of the +Orange Free State. They met on May 30th. Kruger had declared that all +questions might be discussed except the independence of the Transvaal. +'All, all, all!' he cried emphatically. But in practice it was found +that the parties could not agree as to what did or what did not threaten +this independence. What was essential to one was inadmissible to the +other. Milner contended for a five years' retroactive franchise, with +provisions to secure adequate representation for the mining districts. +Kruger offered a seven years' franchise, coupled with numerous +conditions which whittled down its value very much, promised five +members out of thirty-one to represent a majority of the male +population, and added a provision that all differences should be subject +to arbitration by foreign powers, a condition which is incompatible with +any claim to suzerainty. The proposals of each were impossible to the +other, and early in June Sir Alfred Milner was back in Cape Town and +President Kruger in Pretoria, with nothing settled except the extreme +difficulty of a settlement. The current was running swift, and the roar +of the fall was already sounding louder in the ear. + +On June 12th Sir Alfred Milner received a deputation at Cape Town and +reviewed the situation. 'The principle of equality of races was,' he +said, essential for South Africa. The one State where inequality existed +kept all the others in a fever. Our policy was one not of aggression, +but of singular patience, which could not, however, lapse into +indifference.' Two days later Kruger addressed the Raad. 'The other side +had not conceded one tittle, and I could not give more. God has always +stood by us. I do not want war, but I will not give more away. Although +our independence has once been taken away, God has restored it.' He +spoke with sincerity no doubt, but it is hard to hear God invoked with +such confidence for the system which encouraged the liquor traffic to +the natives, and bred the most corrupt set of officials that the modern +world has seen. + +A dispatch from Sir Alfred Milner, giving his views upon the situation, +made the British public recognise, as nothing else had done, how serious +the position was, and how essential it was that an earnest national +effort should be made to set it right. In it he said: + +'The case for intervention is overwhelming. The only attempted answer +is that things will right themselves if left alone. But, in fact, the +policy of leaving things alone has been tried for years, and it has led +to their going from bad to worse. It is not true that this is owing to +the raid. They were going from bad to worse before the raid. We were on +the verge of war before the raid, and the Transvaal was on the verge +of revolution. The effect of the raid has been to give the policy of +leaving things alone a new lease of life, and with the old consequences. + +'The spectacle of thousands of British subjects kept permanently in the +position of helots, constantly chafing under undoubted grievances, and +calling vainly to her Majesty's Government for redress, does steadily +undermine the influence and reputation of Great Britain within the +Queen's dominions. A section of the press, not in the Transvaal only, +preaches openly and constantly the doctrine of a republic embracing all +South Africa, and supports it by menacing references to the armaments of +the Transvaal, its alliance with the Orange Free State, and the active +sympathy which, in case of war, it would receive from a section of her +Majesty's subjects. I regret to say that this doctrine, supported as it +is by a ceaseless stream of malignant lies about the intentions of her +Majesty's Government, is producing a great effect on a large number of +our Dutch fellow colonists. Language is frequently used which seems to +imply that the Dutch have some superior right, even in this colony, +to their fellow-citizens of British birth. Thousands of men peaceably +disposed, and if left alone perfectly satisfied with their position +as British subjects, are being drawn into disaffection, and there is a +corresponding exasperation upon the part of the British. + +'I can see nothing which will put a stop to this mischievous propaganda +but some striking proof of the intention of her Majesty's Government not +to be ousted from its position in South Africa.' + +Such were the grave and measured words with which the British pro-consul +warned his countrymen of what was to come. He saw the storm-cloud piling +in the north, but even his eyes had not yet discerned how near and how +terrible was the tempest. + +Throughout the end of June and the early part of July much was hoped +from the mediation of the heads of the Afrikander Bond, the political +union of the Dutch Cape colonists. On the one hand, they were the +kinsmen of the Boers; on the other, they were British subjects, and +were enjoying the blessings of those liberal institutions which we were +anxious to see extended to the Transvaal. 'Only treat our folk as we +treat yours! Our whole contention was compressed into that prayer. But +nothing came of the mission, though a scheme endorsed by Mr. Hofmeyer +and Mr. Herholdt, of the Bond, with Mr. Fischer of the Free State, was +introduced into the Raad and applauded by Mr. Schreiner, the Africander +Premier of Cape Colony. In its original form the provisions were obscure +and complicated, the franchise varying from nine years to seven under +different conditions. In debate, however, the terms were amended until +the time was reduced to seven years, and the proposed representation of +the gold fields placed at five. The concession was not a great one, +nor could the representation, five out of thirty-one, be considered a +generous provision for the majority of the population; but the reduction +of the years of residence was eagerly hailed in England as a sign that a +compromise might be effected. A sigh of relief went up from the country. +'If,' said the Colonial Secretary, 'this report is confirmed, this +important change in the proposals of President Kruger, coupled with +previous amendments, leads Government to hope that the new law may prove +to be the basis of a settlement on the lines laid down by Sir Alfred +Milner in the Bloemfontein Conference.' He added that there were some +vexatious conditions attached, but concluded, 'Her Majesty's Government +feel assured that the President, having accepted the principle for which +they have contended, will be prepared to reconsider any detail of +his scheme which can be shown to be a possible hindrance to the full +accomplishment of the object in view, and that he will not allow them +to be nullified or reduced in value by any subsequent alterations of the +law or acts of administration.' At the same time, the 'Times' declared +the crisis to be at an end. 'If the Dutch statesmen of the Cape have +induced their brethren in the Transvaal to carry such a Bill, they will +have deserved the lasting gratitude, not only of their own countrymen +and of the English colonists in South Africa, but of the British Empire +and of the civilised world.' + +But this fair prospect was soon destined to be overcast. Questions of +detail arose which, when closely examined, proved to be matters of very +essential importance. The Uitlanders and British South Africans, who had +experienced in the past how illusory the promises of the President might +be, insisted upon guarantees. The seven years offered were two years +more than that which Sir Alfred Milner had declared to be an irreducible +minimum. The difference of two years would not have hindered +their acceptance, even at the expense of some humiliation to our +representative. But there were conditions which excited distrust when +drawn up by so wily a diplomatist. One was that the alien who aspired to +burghership had to produce a certificate of continuous registration for +a certain time. But the law of registration had fallen into disuse in +the Transvaal, and consequently this provision might render the whole +Bill valueless. Since it was carefully retained, it was certainly meant +for use. The door had been opened, but a stone was placed to block it. +Again, the continued burghership of the newcomers was made to depend +upon the resolution of the first Raad, so that should the mining members +propose any measure of reform, not only their Bill but they also might +be swept out of the house by a Boer majority. What could an Opposition +do if a vote of the Government might at any moment unseat them all? It +was clear that a measure which contained such provisions must be very +carefully sifted before a British Government could accept it as a final +settlement and a complete concession of justice to its subjects. On the +other hand, it naturally felt loth to refuse those clauses which offered +some prospect of an amelioration in their condition. It took the course, +therefore, of suggesting that each Government should appoint delegates +to form a joint commission which should inquire into the working of +the proposed Bill before it was put into a final form. The proposal was +submitted to the Raad upon August 7th, with the addition that when +this was done Sir Alfred Milner was prepared to discuss anything else, +including arbitration without the interference of foreign powers. + +The suggestion of this joint commission has been criticised as an +unwarrantable intrusion into the internal affairs of another country. +But then the whole question from the beginning was about the internal +affairs of another country, since the internal equality of the white +inhabitants was the condition upon which self-government was restored +to the Transvaal. It is futile to suggest analogies, and to imagine what +France would do if Germany were to interfere in a question of French +franchise. Supposing that France contained as many Germans as Frenchmen, +and that they were ill-treated, Germany would interfere quickly enough +and continue to do so until some fair modus vivendi was established. +The fact is that the case of the Transvaal stands alone, that such a +condition of things has never been known, and that no previous precedent +can apply to it, save the general rule that a minority of white men +cannot continue indefinitely to tax and govern a majority. Sentiment +inclines to the smaller nation, but reason and justice are all on the +side of England. + +A long delay followed upon the proposal of the Secretary of the +Colonies. No reply was forthcoming from Pretoria. But on all sides there +came evidence that those preparations for war which had been quietly +going on even before the Jameson raid were now being hurriedly +perfected. For so small a State enormous sums were being spent upon +military equipment. Cases of rifles and boxes of cartridges streamed +into the arsenal, not only from Delagoa Bay, but even, to the +indignation of the English colonists, through Cape Town and Port +Elizabeth. Huge packing-cases, marked 'Agricultural Instruments' and +'Mining Machinery,' arrived from Germany and France, to find their +places in the forts of Johannesburg or Pretoria. Men of many nations +but of a similar type showed their martial faces in the Boer towns. +The condottieri of Europe were as ready as ever to sell their blood for +gold, and nobly in the end did they fulfill their share of the bargain. +For three weeks and more during which Mr. Kruger was silent these +eloquent preparations went on. But beyond them, and of infinitely more +importance, there was one fact which dominated the situation. A burgher +cannot go to war without his horse, his horse cannot move without grass, +grass will not come until after rain, and it was still some weeks before +the rain would be due. Negotiations, then, must not be unduly hurried +while the veld was a bare russet-coloured dust-swept plain. Mr. +Chamberlain and the British public waited week after week for their +answer. But there was a limit to their patience, and it was reached on +August 26th, when the Colonial Secretary showed, with a plainness of +speech which is as unusual as it is welcome in diplomacy, that the +question could not be hung up for ever. 'The sands are running down +in the glass,' said he. 'If they run out, we shall not hold ourselves +limited by that which we have already offered, but, having taken the +matter in hand, we will not let it go until we have secured conditions +which once for all shall establish which is the paramount power in +South Africa, and shall secure for our fellow-subjects there those equal +rights and equal privileges which were promised them by President Kruger +when the independence of the Transvaal was granted by the Queen, and +which is the least that in justice ought to be accorded them.' Lord +Salisbury, a little time before, had been equally emphatic. 'No one +in this country wishes to disturb the conventions so long as it is +recognised that while they guarantee the independence of the Transvaal +on the one side, they guarantee equal political and civil rights for +settlers of all nationalities upon the other. But these conventions are +not like the laws of the Medes and the Persians. They are mortal, they +can be destroyed...and once destroyed they can never be reconstructed +in the same shape.' The long-enduring patience of Great Britain was +beginning to show signs of giving way. + +In the meantime a fresh dispatch had arrived from the Transvaal which +offered as an alternative proposal to the joint commission that the Boer +Government should grant the franchise proposals of Sir Alfred Milner +on condition that Great Britain withdrew or dropped her claim to a +suzerainty, agreed to arbitration, and promised never again to interfere +in the internal affairs of the republic. To this Great Britain answered +that she would agree to arbitration, that she hoped never again to have +occasion to interfere for the protection of her own subjects, but that +with the grant of the franchise all occasion for such interference would +pass away, and, finally, that she would never consent to abandon +her position as suzerain power. Mr. Chamberlain's dispatch ended by +reminding the Government of the Transvaal that there were other matters +of dispute open between the two Governments apart from the franchise, +and that it would be as well to have them settled at the same time. By +these he meant such questions as the position of the native races and +the treatment of Anglo-Indians. + +On September 2nd the answer of the Transvaal Government was returned. +It was short and uncompromising. They withdrew their offer of the +franchise. They re-asserted the non-existence of the suzerainty. The +negotiations were at a deadlock. It was difficult to see how they could +be re-opened. In view of the arming of the burghers, the small garrison +of Natal had been taking up positions to cover the frontier. The +Transvaal asked for an explanation of their presence. Sir Alfred Milner +answered that they were guarding British interests, and preparing +against contingencies. The roar of the fall was sounding loud and near. + +On September 8th there was held a Cabinet Council--one of the most +important in recent years. A message was sent to Pretoria, which even +the opponents of the Government have acknowledged to be temperate, and +offering the basis for a peaceful settlement. It begins by repudiating +emphatically the claim of the Transvaal to be a sovereign international +State in the same sense in which the Orange Free State is one. Any +proposal made conditional upon such an acknowledgment could not be +entertained. + +The British Government, however, was prepared to accept the five years' +'franchise' as stated in the note of August 19th, assuming at the same +time that in the Raad each member might talk his own language. + +'Acceptance of these terms by the South African Republic would at once +remove tension between the two Governments, and would in all probability +render unnecessary any future intervention to secure redress for +grievances which the Uitlanders themselves would be able to bring to the +notice of the Executive Council and the Volksraad. + +'Her Majesty's Government are increasingly impressed with the danger of +further delay in relieving the strain which has already caused so much +injury to the interests of South Africa, and they earnestly press for an +immediate and definite reply to the present proposal. If it is acceded +to they will be ready to make immediate arrangements...to settle all +details of the proposed tribunal of arbitration...If, however, as they +most anxiously hope will not be the case, the reply of the South African +Republic should be negative or inconclusive, I am to state that her +Majesty's Government must reserve to themselves the right to reconsider +the situation de novo, and to formulate their own proposals for a final +settlement.' + +Such was the message, and Great Britain waited with strained attention +for the answer. But again there was a delay, while the rain came and the +grass grew, and the veld was as a mounted rifleman would have it. The +burghers were in no humour for concessions. They knew their own power, +and they concluded with justice that they were for the time far the +strongest military power in South Africa. 'We have beaten England +before, but it is nothing to the licking we shall give her now,' cried +a prominent citizen, and he spoke for his country as he said it. So +the empire waited and debated, but the sounds of the bugle were already +breaking through the wrangles of the politicians, and calling the nation +to be tested once more by that hammer of war and adversity by which +Providence still fashions us to some nobler and higher end. + + + +CHAPTER 4. THE EVE OF WAR. + +The message sent from the Cabinet Council of September 8th was evidently +the precursor either of peace or of war. The cloud must burst or blow +over. As the nation waited in hushed expectancy for a reply it spent +some portion of its time in examining and speculating upon those +military preparations which might be needed. The War Office had for +some months been arranging for every contingency, and had made certain +dispositions which appeared to them to be adequate, but which our future +experience was to demonstrate to be far too small for the very serious +matter in hand. + +It is curious in turning over the files of such a paper as the 'Times' +to observe how at first one or two small paragraphs of military +significance might appear in the endless columns of diplomatic and +political reports, how gradually they grew and grew, until at last the +eclipse was complete, and the diplomacy had been thrust into the tiny +paragraphs while the war filled the journal. Under July 7th comes the +first glint of arms amid the drab monotony of the state papers. On +that date it was announced that two companies of Royal Engineers and +departmental corps with reserves of supplies and ammunition were being +dispatched. Two companies of engineers! Who could have foreseen that +they were the vanguard of the greatest army which ever at any time of +the world's history has crossed an ocean, and far the greatest which a +British general has commanded in the field? + +On August 15th, at a time when the negotiations had already assumed a +very serious phase, after the failure of the Bloemfontein conference and +the dispatch of Sir Alfred Milner, the British forces in South Africa +were absolutely and absurdly inadequate for the purpose of the defence +of our own frontier. Surely such a fact must open the eyes of those who, +in spite of all the evidence, persist that the war was forced on by the +British. A statesman who forces on a war usually prepares for a war, and +this is exactly what Mr. Kruger did and the British authorities did not. +The overbearing suzerain power had at that date, scattered over a huge +frontier, two cavalry regiments, three field batteries, and six and a +half infantry battalions--say six thousand men. The innocent pastoral +States could put in the field forty or fifty thousand mounted riflemen, +whose mobility doubled their numbers, and a most excellent artillery, +including the heaviest guns which have ever been seen upon a +battlefield. At this time it is most certain that the Boers could have +made their way easily either to Durban or to Cape Town. The British +force, condemned to act upon the defensive, could have been masked and +afterwards destroyed, while the main body of the invaders would have +encountered nothing but an irregular local resistance, which would have +been neutralised by the apathy or hostility of the Dutch colonists. It +is extraordinary that our authorities seem never to have contemplated +the possibility of the Boers taking the initiative, or to have +understood that in that case our belated reinforcements would certainly +have had to land under the fire of the republican guns. + +In July Natal had taken alarm, and a strong representation had been +sent from the prime minister of the colony to the Governor, Sir W. Hely +Hutchinson, and so to the Colonial Office. It was notorious that the +Transvaal was armed to the teeth, that the Orange Free State was +likely to join her, and that there had been strong attempts made, both +privately and through the press, to alienate the loyalty of the Dutch +citizens of both the British colonies. Many sinister signs were observed +by those upon the spot. The veld had been burned unusually early to +ensure a speedy grass-crop after the first rains, there had been a +collecting of horses, a distribution of rifles and ammunition. The Free +State farmers, who graze their sheep and cattle upon Natal soil during +the winter, had driven them off to places of safety behind the line +of the Drakensberg. Everything pointed to approaching war, and Natal +refused to be satisfied even by the dispatch of another regiment. On +September 6th a second message was received at the Colonial Office, +which states the case with great clearness and precision. + +'The Prime Minister desires me to urge upon you by the unanimous advice +of the Ministers that sufficient troops should be dispatched to Natal +immediately to enable the colony to be placed in a state of defence +against an attack from the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. I am +informed by the General Officer Commanding, Natal, that he will not have +enough troops, even when the Manchester Regiment arrives, to do more +than occupy Newcastle and at the same time protect the colony south of +it from raids, while Laing's Nek, Ingogo River and Zululand must be left +undefended. My Ministers know that every preparation has been made, both +in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, which would enable an attack +to be made on Natal at short notice. My Ministers believe that the Boers +have made up their minds that war will take place almost certainly, and +their best chance will be, when it seems unavoidable, to deliver a blow +before reinforcements have time to arrive. Information has been received +that raids in force will be made by way of Middle Drift and Greytown and +by way of Bond's Drift and Stangar, with a view to striking the railway +between Pietermaritzburg and Durban and cutting off communications of +troops and supplies. Nearly all the Orange Free State farmers in the +Klip River division, who stay in the colony usually till October at +least, have trekked, at great loss to themselves; their sheep are +lambing on the road, and the lambs die or are destroyed. Two at least of +the Entonjanani district farmers have trekked with all their belongings +into the Transvaal, in the first case attempting to take as hostages the +children of the natives on the farm. Reliable reports have been received +of attempts to tamper with loyal natives, and to set tribe against tribe +in order to create confusion and detail the defensive forces of the +colony. Both food and warlike stores in large quantities have been +accumulated at Volksrust, Vryheid and Standerton. Persons who are +believed to be spies have been seen examining the bridges on the Natal +Railway, and it is known that there are spies in all the principal +centres of the colony. In the opinion of Ministers, such a catastrophe +as the seizure of Laing's Nek and the destruction of the northern +portion of the railway, or a successful raid or invasion such as +they have reason to believe is contemplated, would produce a most +demoralising effect on the natives and on the loyal Europeans in the +colony, and would afford great encouragement to the Boers and to their +sympathisers in the colonies, who, although armed and prepared, will +probably keep quiet unless they receive some encouragement of the sort. +They concur in the policy of her Majesty's Government of exhausting all +peaceful means to obtain redress of the grievances of the Uitlanders and +authoritatively assert the supremacy of Great Britain before resorting +to war; but they state that this is a question of defensive precaution, +not of making war.' + +In answer to these and other remonstrances the garrison of Natal was +gradually increased, partly by troops from Europe, and partly by the +dispatch of five thousand British troops from India. The 2nd Berkshires, +the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, the 1st Manchesters, and the 2nd Dublin +Fusiliers arrived in succession with reinforcements of artillery. The +5th Dragoon Guards, 9th Lancers, and 19th Hussars came from India, with +the 1st Devonshires, 1st Gloucesters, 2nd King's Royal Rifles and 2nd +Gordon Highlanders. These with the 21st, 42nd, and 53rd batteries of +Field Artillery made up the Indian Contingent. Their arrival late in +September raised the number of troops in South Africa to 22,000, a force +which was inadequate to a contest in the open field with the numerous, +mobile, and gallant enemy to whom they were to be opposed, but which +proved to be strong enough to stave off that overwhelming disaster +which, with our fuller knowledge, we can now see to have been impending. + +As to the disposition of these troops a difference of opinion broke out +between the ruling powers in Natal and the military chiefs at the spot. +Prince Kraft has said, 'Both strategy and tactics may have to yield to +politics '; but the political necessity should be very grave and very +clear when it is the blood of soldiers which has to pay for it. Whether +it arose from our defective intelligence, or from that caste feeling +which makes it hard for the professional soldier to recognise (in spite +of deplorable past experiences) a serious adversary in the mounted +farmer, it is certain that even while our papers were proclaiming that +this time, at least, we would not underrate our enemy, we were most +seriously underrating him. The northern third of Natal is as vulnerable +a military position as a player of kriegspiel could wish to have +submitted to him. It runs up into a thin angle, culminating at the apex +in a difficult pass, the ill-omened Laing's Nek, dominated by the +even more sinister bulk of Majuba. Each side of this angle is open to +invasion, the one from the Transvaal and the other from the Orange Free +State. A force up at the apex is in a perfect trap, for the mobile +enemy can flood into the country to the south of them, cut the line +of supplies, and throw up a series of entrenchments which would make +retreat a very difficult matter. Further down the country, at such +positions as Ladysmith or Dundee, the danger, though not so imminent, +is still an obvious one, unless the defending force is strong enough to +hold its own in the open field and mobile enough to prevent a mounted +enemy from getting round its flanks. To us, who are endowed with that +profound military wisdom which only comes with a knowledge of the event, +it is obvious that with a defending force which could not place more +than 12,000 men in the fighting line, the true defensible frontier was +the line of the Tugela. As a matter of fact, Ladysmith was chosen, a +place almost indefensible itself, as it is dominated by high hills in at +least two directions. + +Such an event as the siege of the town appears never to have been +contemplated, as no guns of position were asked for or sent. In spite +of this, an amount of stores, which is said to have been valued at +more than a million of pounds, was dumped down at this small railway +junction, so that the position could not be evacuated without a +crippling loss. The place was the point of bifurcation of the main line, +which divides at this little town into one branch running to Harrismith +in the Orange Free State, and the other leading through the Dundee coal +fields and Newcastle to the Laing's Nek tunnel and the Transvaal. An +importance, which appears now to have been an exaggerated one, was +attached by the Government of Natal to the possession of the coal +fields, and it was at their strong suggestion, but with the concurrence +of General Penn Symons, that the defending force was divided, and a +detachment of between three and four thousand sent to Dundee, about +forty miles from the main body, which remained under General Sir George +White at Ladysmith. General Symons underrated the power of the invaders, +but it is hard to criticise an error of judgment which has been so +nobly atoned and so tragically paid for. At the time, then, which our +political narrative has reached, the time of suspense which followed the +dispatch of the Cabinet message of September 8th, the military situation +had ceased to be desperate, but was still precarious. Twenty-two +thousand regular troops were on the spot who might hope to be reinforced +by some ten thousand colonials, but these forces had to cover a great +frontier, the attitude of Cape Colony was by no means whole-hearted and +might become hostile, while the black population might conceivably throw +in its weight against us. Only half the regulars could be spared to +defend Natal, and no reinforcements could reach them in less than a +month from the outbreak of hostilities. If Mr. Chamberlain was really +playing a game of bluff, it must be confessed that he was bluffing from +a very weak hand. + +For purposes of comparison we may give some idea of the forces which +Mr. Kruger and Mr. Steyn could put in the field, for by this time it was +evident that the Orange Free State, with which we had had no shadow of +a dispute, was going, in a way which some would call wanton and some +chivalrous, to throw in its weight against us. The general press +estimate of the forces of the two republics varied from 25,000 to 35,000 +men. Mr. J. B. Robinson, a personal friend of President Kruger's and +a man who had spent much of his life among the Boers, considered the +latter estimate to be too high. The calculation had no assured basis to +start from. A very scattered and isolated population, among whom large +families were the rule, is a most difficult thing to estimate. Some +reckoned from the supposed natural increase during eighteen years, but +the figure given at that date was itself an assumption. Others took +their calculation from the number of voters in the last presidential +election: but no one could tell how many abstentions there had been, +and the fighting age is five years earlier than the voting age in the +republics. We recognise now that all calculations were far below the +true figure. It is probable, however, that the information of the +British Intelligence Department was not far wrong. According to this +the fighting strength of the Transvaal alone was 32,000 men, and of the +Orange Free State 22,000. With mercenaries and rebels from the colonies +they would amount to 60, 000, while a considerable rising of the Cape +Dutch would bring them up to 100,000. In artillery they were known to +have about a hundred guns, many of them (and the fact will need much +explaining) more modern and powerful than any which we could bring +against them. Of the quality of this large force there is no need to +speak. The men were brave, hardy, and fired with a strange religious +enthusiasm. They were all of the seventeenth century, except their +rifles. Mounted upon their hardy little ponies, they possessed a +mobility which practically doubled their numbers and made it an +impossibility ever to outflank them. As marksmen they were supreme. Add +to this that they had the advantage of acting upon internal lines with +shorter and safer communications, and one gathers how formidable a +task lay before the soldiers of the empire. When we turn from such an +enumeration of their strength to contemplate the 12,000 men, split into +two detachments, who awaited them in Natal, we may recognise that, far +from bewailing our disasters, we should rather congratulate ourselves +upon our escape from losing that great province which, situated as it +is between Britain, India, and Australia, must be regarded as the very +keystone of the imperial arch. + +At the risk of a tedious but very essential digression, something must +be said here as to the motives with which the Boers had for many years +been quietly preparing for war. That the Jameson raid was not the cause +is certain, though it probably, by putting the Boer Government into a +strong position, had a great effect in accelerating matters. What had +been done secretly and slowly could be done more swiftly and openly when +so plausible an excuse could be given for it. As a matter of fact, the +preparations were long antecedent to the raid. The building of the forts +at Pretoria and Johannesburg was begun nearly two years before that +wretched incursion, and the importation of arms was going on apace. +In that very year, 1895, a considerable sum was spent in military +equipment. + +But if it was not the raid, and if the Boers had no reason to fear the +British Government, with whom the Transvaal might have been as friendly +as the Orange Free State had been for forty years, why then should they +arm? It was a difficult question, and one in answering which we find +ourselves in a region of conjecture and suspicion rather than of +ascertained fact. But the fairest and most unbiased of historians must +confess that there is a large body of evidence to show that into the +heads of some of the Dutch leaders, both in the northern republics +and in the Cape, there had entered the conception of a single Dutch +commonwealth, extending from Cape Town to the Zambesi, in which flag, +speech, and law should all be Dutch. It is in this aspiration that +many shrewd and well-informed judges see the true inner meaning of this +persistent arming, of the constant hostility, of the forming of ties +between the two republics (one of whom had been reconstituted and made +a sovereign independent State by our own act), and finally of that +intriguing which endeavoured to poison the affection and allegiance of +our own Dutch colonists, who had no political grievances whatever. They +all aimed at one end, and that end was the final expulsion of British +power from South Africa and the formation of a single great Dutch +republic. The large sum spent by the Transvaal in secret service +money--a larger sum, I believe, than that which is spent by the whole +British Empire--would give some idea of the subterranean influences at +work. An army of emissaries, agents, and spies, whatever their mission, +were certainly spread over the British colonies. Newspapers were +subsidised also, and considerable sums spent upon the press in France +and Germany. + +In the very nature of things a huge conspiracy of this sort to +substitute Dutch for British rule in South Africa is not a matter which +can be easily and definitely proved. Such questions are not discussed +in public documents, and men are sounded before being taken into the +confidence of the conspirators. But there is plenty of evidence of +the individual ambition of prominent and representative men in this +direction, and it is hard to believe that what many wanted individually +was not striven for collectively, especially when we see how the course +of events did actually work towards the end which they indicated. Mr. +J.P. FitzPatrick, in 'The Transvaal from Within'--a book to which +all subsequent writers upon the subject must acknowledge their +obligations--narrates how in 1896 he was approached by Mr. D.P. Graaff, +formerly a member of the Cape Legislative Council and a very prominent +Afrikander Bondsman, with the proposition that Great Britain should be +pushed out of South Africa. The same politician made the same proposal +to Mr. Beit. Compare with this the following statement of Mr. Theodore +Schreiner, the brother of the Prime Minister of the Cape: + +'I met Mr. Reitz, then a judge of the Orange Free State, in Bloemfontein +between seventeen and eighteen years ago, shortly after the retrocession +of the Transvaal, and when he was busy establishing the Afrikander Bond. +It must be patent to every one that at that time, at all events, England +and its Government had no intention of taking away the independence of +the Transvaal, for she had just "magnanimously" granted the same; no +intention of making war on the republics, for she had just made peace; +no intention to seize the Rand gold fields, for they were not yet +discovered. At that time, then, I met Mr. Reitz, and he did his best to +get me to become a member of his Afrikander Bond, but, after studying +its constitution and programme, I refused to do so, whereupon the +following colloquy in substance took place between us, which has been +indelibly imprinted on my mind ever since: + +'REITZ: Why do you refuse? Is the object of getting the people to take +an interest in political matters not a good one? + +'MYSELF: Yes, it is; but I seem to see plainly here between the lines of +this constitution much more ultimately aimed at than that. + +'REITZ: What? + +'MYSELF: I see quite clearly that the ultimate object aimed at is the +overthrow of the British power and the expulsion of the British flag +from South Africa. + +'REITZ (with his pleasant conscious smile, as of one whose secret +thought and purpose had been discovered, and who was not altogether +displeased that such was the case): Well, what if it is so? + +'MYSELF: You don't suppose, do you, that that flag is going to disappear +from South Africa without a tremendous struggle and fight? + +'REITZ (with the same pleasant self-conscious, self satisfied, and yet +semi-apologetic smile): Well, I suppose not; but even so, what of that? + +'MYSELF: Only this, that when that struggle takes place you and I will +be on opposite sides; and what is more, the God who was on the side of +the Transvaal in the late war, because it had right on its side will +be on the side of England, because He must view with abhorrence any +plotting and scheming to overthrow her power and position in South +Africa, which have been ordained by Him. + +'REITZ: We'll see. + +'Thus the conversation ended, but during the seventeen years that have +elapsed I have watched the propaganda for the overthrow of British power +in South Africa being ceaselessly spread by every possible means--the +press, the pulpit, the platform, the schools, the colleges, the +Legislature--until it has culminated in the present war, of which Mr. +Reitz and his co-workers are the origin and the cause. Believe me, the +day on which F.W. Reitz sat down to pen his ultimatum to Great Britain +was the proudest and happiest moment of his life, and one which had +for long years been looked forward to by him with eager longing and +expectation.' + +Compare with these utterances of a Dutch politician of the Cape, and of +a Dutch politician of the Orange Free State, the following passage from +a speech delivered by Kruger at Bloemfontein in the year 1887: + +'I think it too soon to speak of a United South Africa under one flag. +Which flag was it to be? The Queen of England would object to having +her flag hauled down, and we, the burghers of the Transvaal, object to +hauling ours down. What is to be done? We are now small and of little +importance, but we are growing, and are preparing the way to take our +place among the great nations of the world.' + +'The dream of our life,' said another, 'is a union of the States of +South Africa, and this has to come from within, not from without. When +that is accomplished, South Africa will be great.' + +Always the same theory from all quarters of Dutch thought, to be +followed by many signs that the idea was being prepared for in practice. +I repeat that the fairest and most unbiased historian cannot dismiss the +conspiracy as a myth. + +And to this one may retort, why should they not conspire? Why should +they not have their own views as to the future of South Africa? Why +should they not endeavour to have one universal flag and one common +speech? Why should they not win over our colonists, if they can, and +push us into the sea? I see no reason why they should not. Let them try +if they will. And let us try to prevent them. But let us have an end +of talk about British aggression, of capitalist designs upon the gold +fields, of the wrongs of a pastoral people, and all the other veils +which have been used to cover the issue. Let those who talk about +British designs upon the republics turn their attention for a moment to +the evidence which there is for republican designs upon the colonies. +Let them reflect that in the one system all white men are equal, and +that on the other the minority of one race has persecuted the majority +of the other, and let them consider under which the truest freedom lies, +which stands for universal liberty and which for reaction and racial +hatred. Let them ponder and answer all this before they determine where +their sympathies lie. + +Leaving these wider questions of politics, and dismissing for the +time those military considerations which were soon to be of such vital +moment, we may now return to the course of events in the diplomatic +struggle between the Government of the Transvaal and the Colonial +Office. On September 8th, as already narrated, a final message was sent +to Pretoria, which stated the minimum terms which the British Government +could accept as being a fair concession to her subjects in the +Transvaal. A definite answer was demanded, and the nation waited with +sombre patience for the reply. + +There were few illusions in this country as to the difficulties of +a Transvaal war. It was clearly seen that little honour and immense +vexation were in store for us. The first Boer war still smarted in our +minds, and we knew the prowess of the indomitable burghers. But our +people, if gloomy, were none the less resolute, for that national +instinct which is beyond the wisdom of statesmen had borne it in upon +them that this was no local quarrel, but one upon which the whole +existence of the empire hung. The cohesion of that empire was to be +tested. Men had emptied their glasses to it in time of peace. Was it a +meaningless pouring of wine, or were they ready to pour their +hearts' blood also in time of war? Had we really founded a series of +disconnected nations, with no common sentiment or interest, or was +the empire an organic whole, as ready to thrill with one emotion or to +harden into one resolve as are the several States of the Union? That was +the question at issue, and much of the future history of the world was +at stake upon the answer. + +Already there were indications that the colonies appreciated the fact +that the contention was no affair of the mother country alone, but that +she was upholding the rights of the empire as a whole, and might fairly +look to them to support her in any quarrel which might arise from it. As +early as July 11th, Queensland, the fiery and semitropical, had offered +a contingent of mounted infantry with machine guns; New Zealand, Western +Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia +followed in the order named. Canada, with the strong but more deliberate +spirit of the north, was the last to speak, but spoke the more firmly +for the delay. Her citizens were the least concerned of any, for +Australians were many in South Africa but Canadians few. None the less, +she cheerfully took her share of the common burden, and grew the readier +and the cheerier as that burden came to weigh more heavily. From all +the men of many hues who make up the British Empire, from Hindoo Rajahs, +from West African Houssas, from Malay police, from Western Indians, +there came offers of service. But this was to be a white man's war, and +if the British could not work out their own salvation then it were well +that empire should pass from such a race. The magnificent Indian army +of 150,000 soldiers, many of them seasoned veterans, was for the same +reason left untouched. England has claimed no credit or consideration +for such abstention, but an irresponsible writer may well ask how many +of those foreign critics whose respect for our public morality appears +to be as limited as their knowledge of our principles and history would +have advocated such self denial had their own countries been placed in +the same position. + +On September 18th the official reply of the Boer Government to the +message sent from the Cabinet Council was published in London. In manner +it was unbending and unconciliatory; in substance, it was a complete +rejection of all the British demands. It refused to recommend or propose +to the Raad the five years' franchise and the other measures which had +been defined as the minimum which the Home Government could accept as a +fair measure of justice towards the Uitlanders. The suggestion that the +debates of the Raad should be bilingual, as they have been in the +Cape Colony and in Canada, was absolutely waived aside. The British +Government had stated in their last dispatch that if the reply should +be negative or inconclusive they reserved to themselves the right to +'reconsider the situation de novo and to formulate their own proposals +for a final settlement.' The reply had been both negative and +inconclusive, and on September 22nd a council met to determine what the +next message should be. It was short and firm, but so planned as not to +shut the door upon peace. Its purport was that the British Government +expressed deep regret at the rejection of the moderate proposals which +had been submitted in their last dispatch, and that now, in accordance +with their promise, they would shortly put forward their own plans for +a settlement. The message was not an ultimatum, but it foreshadowed an +ultimatum in the future. + +In the meantime, upon September 21st the Raad of the Orange Free State +had met, and it became more and more evident that this republic, with +whom we had no possible quarrel, but, on the contrary, for whom we had a +great deal of friendship and admiration, intended to throw in its weight +against Great Britain. Some time before, an offensive and defensive +alliance had been concluded between the two States, which must, until +the secret history of these events comes to be written, appear to have +been a singularly rash and unprofitable bargain for the smaller one. She +had nothing to fear from Great Britain, since she had been voluntarily +turned into an independent republic by her and had lived in peace with +her for forty years. Her laws were as liberal as our own. But by this +suicidal treaty she agreed to share the fortunes of a State which was +deliberately courting war by its persistently unfriendly attitude, and +whose reactionary and narrow legislation would, one might imagine, have +alienated the sympathy of her progressive neighbour. There may have +been ambitions like those already quoted from the report of Dr. Reitz's +conversation, or there may have been a complete hallucination as to the +comparative strength of the two combatants and the probable future of +South Africa; but however that may be, the treaty was made, and the time +had come to test how far it would hold. + +The tone of President Steyn at the meeting of the Raad, and the support +which he received from the majority of his burghers, showed unmistakably +that the two republics would act as one. In his opening speech Steyn +declared uncompromisingly against the British contention, and declared +that his State was bound to the Transvaal by everything which was near +and dear. Among the obvious military precautions which could no longer +be neglected by the British Government was the sending of some small +force to protect the long and exposed line of railway which lies just +outside the Transvaal border from Kimberley to Rhodesia. Sir Alfred +Milner communicated with President Steyn as to this movement of troops, +pointing out that it was in no way directed against the Free State. Sir +Alfred Milner added that the Imperial Government was still hopeful of +a friendly settlement with the Transvaal, but if this hope were +disappointed they looked to the Orange Free State to preserve strict +neutrality and to prevent military intervention by any of its citizens. +They undertook that in that case the integrity of the Free State +frontier would be strictly preserved. Finally, he stated that there was +absolutely no cause to disturb the good relations between the Free +State and Great Britain, since we were animated by the most friendly +intentions towards them. To this the President returned a somewhat +ungracious answer, to the effect that he disapproved of our action +towards the Transvaal, and that he regretted the movement of troops, +which would be considered a menace by the burghers. A subsequent +resolution of the Free State Raad, ending with the words, 'Come what +may, the Free State will honestly and faithfully fulfill its obligations +towards the Transvaal by virtue of the political alliance existing +between the two republics,' showed how impossible it was that this +country, formed by ourselves and without a shadow of a cause of quarrel +with us, could be saved from being drawn into the whirlpool. Everywhere, +from over both borders, came the news of martial preparations. Already +at the end of September troops and armed burghers were gathering +upon the frontier, and the most incredulous were beginning at last to +understand that the shadow of a great war was really falling across +them. Artillery, war munitions, and stores were being accumulated +at Volksrust upon the Natal border, showing where the storm might be +expected to break. On the last day of September, twenty-six military +trains were reported to have left Pretoria and Johannesburg for that +point. At the same time news came of a concentration at Malmani, upon +the Bechuanaland border, threatening the railway line and the British +town of Mafeking, a name destined before long to be familiar to the +world. + +On October 3rd there occurred what was in truth an act of war, although +the British Government, patient to the verge of weakness, refused to +regard it as such, and continued to draw up their final state paper. The +mail train from the Transvaal to Cape Town was stopped at Vereeniging, +and the week's shipment of gold for England, amounting to about half a +million pounds, was taken by the Boer Government. In a debate at Cape +Town upon the same day the Africander Minister of the Interior admitted +that as many as 404 trucks had passed from the Government line over +the frontier and had not been returned. Taken in conjunction with +the passage of arms and cartridges through the Cape to Pretoria and +Bloemfontein, this incident aroused the deepest indignation among the +Colonial English and the British public, which was increased by the +reports of the difficulty which border towns, such as Kimberley and +Vryburg, had had in getting cannon for their own defence. The Raads had +been dissolved, and the old President's last words had been a statement +that war was certain, and a stern invocation of the Lord as final +arbiter. England was ready less obtrusively but no less heartily to +refer the quarrel to the same dread Judge. + +On October 2nd President Steyn informed Sir Alfred Milner that he had +deemed it necessary to call out the Free State burghers--that is, to +mobilise his forces. Sir A. Milner wrote regretting these preparations, +and declaring that he did not yet despair of peace, for he was sure that +any reasonable proposal would be favourably considered by her Majesty's +Government. Steyn's reply was that there was no use in negotiating +unless the stream of British reinforcements ceased coming into South +Africa. As our forces were still in a great minority, it was impossible +to stop the reinforcements, so the correspondence led to nothing. On +October 7th the army reserves for the First Army Corps were called out +in Great Britain and other signs shown that it had been determined to +send a considerable force to South Africa. Parliament was also summoned +that the formal national assent might be gained for those grave measures +which were evidently pending. + +It was on October 9th that the somewhat leisurely proceedings of the +British Colonial Office were brought to a head by the arrival of an +unexpected and audacious ultimatum from the Boer Government. In contests +of wit, as of arms, it must be confessed that the laugh has been usually +upon the side of our simple and pastoral South African neighbours. The +present instance was no exception to the rule. While our Government +was cautiously and patiently leading up to an ultimatum, our opponent +suddenly played the very card which we were preparing to lay upon the +table. The document was very firm and explicit, but the terms in which +it was drawn were so impossible that it was evidently framed with the +deliberate purpose of forcing an immediate war. It demanded that the +troops upon the borders of the republic should be instantly withdrawn, +that all reinforcements which had arrived within the last year should +leave South Africa, and that those who were now upon the sea should be +sent back without being landed. Failing a satisfactory answer within +forty-eight hours, 'the Transvaal Government will with great regret be +compelled to regard the action of her Majesty's Government as a formal +declaration of war, for the consequences of which it will not hold +itself responsible.' The audacious message was received throughout the +empire with a mixture of derision and anger. The answer was dispatched +next day through Sir Alfred Milner. + +'10th October.--Her Majesty's Government have received with great regret +the peremptory demands of the Government of the South African Republic, +conveyed in your telegram of the 9th October. You will inform the +Government of the South African Republic in reply that the conditions +demanded by the Government of the South African Republic are such as her +Majesty's Government deem it impossible to discuss.' + +And so we have come to the end of the long road, past the battle of the +pens and the wrangling of tongues, to the arbitration of the Lee-Metford +and the Mauser. It was pitiable that it should come to this. These +people were as near akin to us as any race which is not our own. They +were of the same Frisian stock which peopled our own shores. In habit +of mind, in religion, in respect for law, they were as ourselves. Brave, +too, they were, and hospitable, with those sporting instincts which are +dear to the Anglo-Celtic race. There was no people in the world who had +more qualities which we might admire, and not the least of them was +that love of independence which it is our proudest boast that we have +encouraged in others as well as exercised ourselves. And yet we had come +to this pass, that there was no room in all vast South Africa for both +of us. We cannot hold ourselves blameless in the matter. 'The evil that +men do lives after them,' and it has been told in this small superficial +sketch where we have erred in the past in South Africa. On our hands, +too, is the Jameson raid, carried out by Englishmen and led by +officers who held the Queen's Commission; to us, also, the blame of the +shuffling, half-hearted inquiry into that most unjustifiable business. +These are matches which helped to set the great blaze alight, and it is +we who held them. But the fagots which proved to be so inflammable, +they were not of our setting. They were the wrongs done to half the +community, the settled resolution of the minority to tax and vex the +majority, the determination of a people who had lived two generations in +a country to claim that country entirely for themselves. Behind them all +there may have been the Dutch ambition to dominate South Africa. It +was no petty object for which Britain fought. When a nation struggles +uncomplainingly through months of disaster she may claim to have proved +her conviction of the justice and necessity of the struggle. Should +Dutch ideas or English ideas of government prevail throughout that huge +country? The one means freedom for a single race, the other means equal +rights to all white men beneath one common law. What each means to +the coloured races let history declare. This was the main issue to +be determined from the instant that the clock struck five upon the +afternoon of Wednesday, October the eleventh, eighteen hundred and +ninety-nine. That moment marked the opening of a war destined to +determine the fate of South Africa, to work great changes in the +British Empire, to seriously affect the future history of the world, and +incidentally to alter many of our views as to the art of war. It is the +story of this war which, with limited material but with much aspiration +to care and candour, I shall now endeavour to tell. + + + +CHAPTER 5. TALANA HILL. + +It was on the morning of October 12th, amid cold and mist, that the Boer +camps at Sandspruit and Volksrust broke up, and the burghers rode to the +war. Some twelve thousand of them, all mounted, with two batteries of +eight Krupp guns each, were the invading force from the north, which +hoped later to be joined by the Freestaters and by a contingent of +Germans and Transvaalers who were to cross the Free State border. It +was an hour before dawn that the guns started, and the riflemen followed +close behind the last limber, so that the first light of day fell upon +the black sinuous line winding down between the hills. A spectator upon +the occasion says of them: 'Their faces were a study. For the most part +the expression worn was one of determination and bulldog pertinacity. +No sign of fear there, nor of wavering. Whatever else may be laid to the +charge of the Boer, it may never truthfully be said that he is a coward +or a man unworthy of the Briton's steel.' The words were written early +in the campaign, and the whole empire will endorse them to-day. Could we +have such men as willing fellow-citizens, they are worth more than all +the gold mines of their country. + +This main Transvaal body consisted of the commando of Pretoria, which +comprised 1800 men, and those of Heidelberg, Middelburg, Krugersdorp, +Standerton, Wakkerstroom, and Ermelo, with the State Artillery, an +excellent and highly organised body who were provided with the best guns +that have ever been brought on to a battlefield. Besides their sixteen +Krupps, they dragged with them two heavy six-inch Creusot guns, which +were destined to have a very important effect in the earlier part of the +campaign. In addition to these native forces there were a certain number +of European auxiliaries. The greater part of the German corps were with +the Free State forces, but a few hundred came down from the north. There +was a Hollander corps of about two hundred and fifty and an Irish--or +perhaps more properly an Irish-American-corps of the same number, who +rode under the green flag and the harp. + +The men might, by all accounts, be divided into two very different +types. There were the town Boers, smartened and perhaps a little +enervated by prosperity and civilisation, men of business and +professional men, more alert and quicker than their rustic comrades. +These men spoke English rather than Dutch, and indeed there were many +men of English descent among them. But the others, the most formidable +both in their numbers and in their primitive qualities, were the +back-veld Boers, the sunburned, tangle-haired, full-bearded farmers, the +men of the Bible and the rifle, imbued with the traditions of their own +guerrilla warfare. These were perhaps the finest natural warriors upon +earth, marksmen, hunters, accustomed to hard fare and a harder couch. +They were rough in their ways and speech, but, in spite of many +calumnies and some few unpleasant truths, they might compare with most +disciplined armies in their humanity and their desire to observe the +usages of war. + +A few words here as to the man who led this singular host. Piet Joubert +was a Cape Colonist by birth--a fellow countryman, like Kruger himself, +of those whom the narrow laws of his new country persisted in regarding +as outside the pale. He came from that French Huguenot blood which has +strengthened and refined every race which it has touched, and from it +he derived a chivalry and generosity which made him respected and liked +even by his opponents. In many native broils and in the British campaign +of 1881 he had shown himself a capable leader. His record in standing +out for the independence of the Transvaal was a very consistent one, for +he had not accepted office under the British, as Kruger had done, but +had remained always an irreconcilable. Tall and burly, with hard grey +eyes and a grim mouth half hidden by his bushy beard, he was a fine type +of the men whom he led. He was now in his sixty-fifth year, and the fire +of his youth had, as some of the burghers urged, died down within him; +but he was experienced, crafty, and warwise, never dashing and never +brilliant, but slow, steady, solid, and inexorable. + +Besides this northern army there were two other bodies of burghers +converging upon Natal. One, consisting of the commandoes from Utrecht +and the Swaziland districts, had gathered at Vryheid on the flank of the +British position at Dundee. The other, much larger, not less probably +than six or seven thousand men, were the contingent from the Free State +and a Transvaal corps, together with Schiel's Germans, who were making +their way through the various passes, the Tintwa Pass, and Van Reenen's +Pass, which lead through the grim range of the Drakensberg and open out +upon the more fertile plains of Western Natal. The total force may have +been something between twenty and thirty thousand men. By all accounts +they were of an astonishingly high heart, convinced that a path of easy +victory lay before them, and that nothing could bar their way to the +sea. If the British commanders underrated their opponents, there is +ample evidence that the mistake was reciprocal. + +A few words now as to the disposition of the British forces, concerning +which it must be borne in mind that Sir George White, though in +actual command, had only been a few days in the country before war was +declared, so that the arrangements fell to General Penn Symons, aided +or hampered by the advice of the local political authorities. The main +position was at Ladysmith, but an advance post was strongly held at +Glencoe, which is five miles from the station of Dundee and forty from +Ladysmith. The reason for this dangerous division of force was to secure +each end of the Biggarsberg section of the railway, and also to cover +the important collieries of that district. The positions chosen seem in +each case to show that the British commander was not aware of the number +and power of the Boer guns, for each was equally defensible against +rifle fire and vulnerable to an artillery attack. In the case of Glencoe +it was particularly evident that guns upon the hills above would, as +they did, render the position untenable. This outlying post was held +by the 1st Leicester Regiment, the 2nd Dublin Fusiliers, and the first +battalion of Rifles, with the 18th Hussars, three companies of mounted +infantry, and three batteries of field artillery, the 13th, 67th, and +69th. The 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers were on their way to reinforce +it, and arrived before the first action. Altogether the Glencoe camp +contained some four thousand men. + +The main body of the army remained at Ladysmith. These consisted of the +1st Devons, the 1st Liverpools, and the 2nd Gordon Highlanders, with the +1st Gloucesters, the 2nd King's Royal Rifles, and the 2nd Rifle Brigade, +reinforced later by the Manchesters. The cavalry included the 5th +Dragoon Guards, the 5th Lancers, a detachment of 19th Hussars, the Natal +Carabineers, the Natal Mounted Police, and the Border Mounted Rifles, +reinforced later by the Imperial Light Horse, a fine body of men raised +principally among the refugees from the Rand. For artillery there +were the 21st, 42nd, and 53rd batteries of field artillery, and No. 10 +Mountain Battery, with the Natal Field Artillery, the guns of which were +too light to be of service, and the 23rd Company of Royal Engineers. The +whole force, some eight or nine thousand strong, was under the immediate +command of Sir George White, with Sir Archibald Hunter, fresh from the +Soudan, General French, and General Ian Hamilton as his lieutenants. + +The first shock of the Boers, then, must fall upon 4000 men. If these +could be overwhelmed, there were 8000 more to be defeated or masked. +Then what was there between them and the sea? Some detachments of local +volunteers, the Durban Light Infantry at Colenso, and the Natal Royal +Rifles, with some naval volunteers at Estcourt. With the power of the +Boers and their mobility it is inexplicable how the colony was saved. We +are of the same blood, the Boers and we, and we show it in our failings. +Over-confidence on our part gave them the chance, and over-confidence +on theirs prevented them from instantly availing themselves of it. It +passed, never to come again. + +The outbreak of war was upon October 11th. On the 12th the Boer forces +crossed the frontier both on the north and on the west. On the 13th they +occupied Charlestown at the top angle of Natal. On the 15th they had +reached Newcastle, a larger town some fifteen miles inside the border. +Watchers from the houses saw six miles of canvas-tilted bullock wagons +winding down the passes, and learned that this was not a raid but an +invasion. At the same date news reached the British headquarters of +an advance from the western passes, and of a movement from the +Buffalo River on the east. On the 13th Sir George White had made a +reconnaissance in force, but had not come in touch with the enemy. On +the 15th six of the Natal Police were surrounded and captured at one of +the drifts of the Buffalo River. On the 18th our cavalry patrols came +into touch with the Boer scouts at Acton Homes and Besters Station, +these being the voortrekkers of the Orange Free State force. On the 18th +also a detachment was reported from Hadders Spruit, seven miles north of +Glencoe Camp. The cloud was drifting up, and it could not be long before +it would burst. + +Two days later, on the early morning of October 20th, the forces came +at last into collision. At half-past three in the morning, well before +daylight, the mounted infantry picket at the junction of the roads from +Landmans and Vants Drifts was fired into by the Doornberg commando, and +retired upon its supports. Two companies of the Dublin Fusiliers were +sent out, and at five o'clock on a fine but misty morning the whole of +Symons's force was under arms with the knowledge that the Boers were +pushing boldly towards them. The khaki-clad lines of fighting men stood +in their long thin ranks staring up at the curves of the saddle-back +hills to the north and east of them, and straining their eyes to catch a +glimpse of the enemy. Why these same saddle-back hills were not occupied +by our own people is, it must be confessed, an insoluble mystery. In a +hollow on one flank were the 18th Hussars and the mounted infantry. On +the other were the eighteen motionless guns, limbered up and ready, the +horses fidgeting and stamping in the raw morning air. + +And then suddenly--could that be they? An officer with a telescope +stared intently and pointed. Another and another turned a steady field +glass towards the same place. And then the men could see also, and a +little murmur of interest ran down the ranks. + +A long sloping hill--Talana Hill--olive-green in hue, was stretching +away in front of them. At the summit it rose into a rounded crest. The +mist was clearing, and the curve was hard-outlined against the limpid +blue of the morning sky. On this, some two and a half miles or three +miles off, a little group of black dots had appeared. The clear edge of +the skyline had become serrated with moving figures. They clustered into +a knot, then opened again, and then-- + +There had been no smoke, but there came a long crescendo hoot, rising +into a shrill wail. The shell hummed over the soldiers like a great +bee, and sloshed into soft earth behind them. Then another--and yet +another--and yet another. But there was no time to heed them, for there +was the hillside and there the enemy. So at it again with the good old +murderous obsolete heroic tactics of the British tradition! There are +times when, in spite of science and book-lore, the best plan is the +boldest plan, and it is well to fly straight at your enemy's throat, +facing the chance that your strength may fail before you can grasp it. +The cavalry moved off round the enemy's left flank. The guns dashed to +the front, unlimbered, and opened fire. The infantry were moved round in +the direction of Sandspruit, passing through the little town of Dundee, +where the women and children came to the doors and windows to cheer +them. It was thought that the hill was more accessible from that side. +The Leicesters and one field battery--the 67th--were left behind to +protect the camp and to watch the Newcastle Road upon the west. At seven +in the morning all was ready for the assault. + +Two military facts of importance had already been disclosed. One was +that the Boer percussion-shells were useless in soft ground, as hardly +any of them exploded; the other that the Boer guns could outrange our +ordinary fifteen-pounder field gun, which had been the one thing perhaps +in the whole British equipment upon which we were prepared to pin our +faith. The two batteries, the 13th and the 69th, were moved nearer, +first to 3000, and then at last to 2300 yards, at which range they +quickly dominated the guns upon the hill. Other guns had opened from +another crest to the east of Talana, but these also were mastered by the +fire of the 13th Battery. At 7.30 the infantry were ordered to advance, +which they did in open order, extended to ten paces. The Dublin +Fusiliers formed the first line, the Rifles the second, and the Irish +Fusiliers the third. + +The first thousand yards of the advance were over open grassland, where +the range was long, and the yellow brown of the khaki blended with the +withered veld. There were few casualties until the wood was reached, +which lay halfway up the long slope of the hill. It was a plantation of +larches, some hundreds of yards across and nearly as many deep. On +the left side of this wood--that is, the left side to the advancing +troops--there stretched a long nullah or hollow, which ran +perpendicularly to the hill, and served rather as a conductor of bullets +than as a cover. So severe was the fire at this point that both in the +wood and in the nullah the troops lay down to avoid it. An officer of +Irish Fusiliers has narrated how in trying to cut the straps from a +fallen private a razor lent him for that purpose by a wounded sergeant +was instantly shot out of his hand. The gallant Symons, who had refused +to dismount, was shot through the stomach and fell from his horse +mortally wounded. With an excessive gallantry, he had not only attracted +the enemy's fire by retaining his horse, but he had been accompanied +throughout the action by an orderly bearing a red pennon. 'Have they got +the hill? Have they got the hill?' was his one eternal question as they +carried him dripping to the rear. It was at the edge of the wood that +Colonel Sherston met his end. + +From now onwards it was as much a soldiers' battle as Inkermann. In the +shelter of the wood the more eager of the three battalions had pressed +to the front until the fringe of the trees was lined by men from all of +them. The difficulty of distinguishing particular regiments where all +were clad alike made it impossible in the heat of action to keep any +sort of formation. So hot was the fire that for the time the advance +was brought to a standstill, but the 69th battery, firing shrapnel at a +range of 1400 yards, subdued the rifle fire, and about half-past eleven +the infantry were able to push on once more. + +Above the wood there was an open space some hundreds of yards across, +bounded by a rough stone wall built for herding cattle. A second wall +ran at right angles to this down towards the wood. An enfilading rifle +fire had been sweeping across this open space, but the wall in front +does not appear to have been occupied by the enemy, who held the kopje +above it. To avoid the cross fire the soldiers ran in single file under +the shelter of the wall, which covered them to the right, and so reached +the other wall across their front. Here there was a second long delay, +the men dribbling up from below, and firing over the top of the wall and +between the chinks of the stones. The Dublin Fusiliers, through being in +a more difficult position, had been unable to get up as quickly as the +others, and most of the hard-breathing excited men who crowded under the +wall were of the Rifles and of the Irish Fusiliers. The air was so full +of bullets that it seemed impossible to live upon the other side of this +shelter. Two hundred yards intervened between the wall and the crest of +the kopje. And yet the kopje had to be cleared if the battle were to be +won. + +Out of the huddled line of crouching men an officer sprang shouting, and +a score of soldiers vaulted over the wall and followed at his heels. It +was Captain Connor, of the Irish Fusiliers, but his personal magnetism +carried up with him some of the Rifles as well as men of his own +command. He and half his little forlorn hope were struck down--he, alas! +to die the same night--but there were other leaders as brave to take his +place. 'Forrard away, men, forrard away!' cried Nugent, of the Rifles. +Three bullets struck him, but he continued to drag himself up the +boulder-studded hill. Others followed, and others, from all sides +they came running, the crouching, yelling, khaki-clad figures, and the +supports rushed up from the rear. For a time they were beaten down by +their own shrapnel striking into them from behind, which is an amazing +thing when one considers that the range was under 2000 yards. It was +here, between the wall and the summit, that Colonel Gunning, of the +Rifles, and many other brave men met their end, some by our own bullets +and some by those of the enemy; but the Boers thinned away in front +of them, and the anxious onlookers from the plain below saw the waving +helmets on the crest, and learned at last that all was well. + +But it was, it must be confessed, a Pyrrhic victory. We had our hill, +but what else had we? The guns which had been silenced by our fire had +been removed from the kopje. The commando which seized the hill was that +of Lucas Meyer, and it is computed that he had with him about 4000 +men. This figure includes those under the command of Erasmus, who made +halfhearted demonstrations against the British flank. If the shirkers +be eliminated, it is probable that there were not more than a thousand +actual combatants upon the hill. Of this number about fifty were killed +and a hundred wounded. The British loss at Talana Hill itself was 41 +killed and 180 wounded, but among the killed were many whom the army +could ill spare. The gallant but optimistic Symons, Gunning of the +Rifles, Sherston, Connor, Hambro, and many other brave men died that +day. The loss of officers was out of all proportion to that of the men. + +An incident which occurred immediately after the action did much to rob +the British of the fruits of the victory. Artillery had pushed up the +moment that the hill was carried, and had unlimbered on Smith's Nek +between the two hills, from which the enemy, in broken groups of 50 +and 100, could be seen streaming away. A fairer chance for the use of +shrapnel has never been. But at this instant there ran from an old iron +church on the reverse side of the hill, which had been used all day as +a Boer hospital, a man with a white flag. It is probable that the action +was in good faith, and that it was simply intended to claim a protection +for the ambulance party which followed him. But the too confiding gunner +in command appears to have thought that an armistice had been declared, +and held his hand during those precious minutes which might have turned +a defeat into a rout. The chance passed, never to return. The double +error of firing into our own advance and of failing to fire into the +enemy's retreat makes the battle one which cannot be looked back to with +satisfaction by our gunners. + +In the meantime some miles away another train of events had led to a +complete disaster to our small cavalry force--a disaster which robbed +our dearly bought infantry victory of much of its importance. That +action alone was undoubtedly a victorious one, but the net result of the +day's fighting cannot be said to have been certainly in our favour. +It was Wellington who asserted that his cavalry always got him into +scrapes, and the whole of British military history might furnish +examples of what he meant. Here again our cavalry got into trouble. +Suffice it for the civilian to chronicle the fact, and leave it to the +military critic to portion out the blame. + +One company of mounted infantry (that of the Rifles) had been told off +to form an escort for the guns. The rest of the mounted infantry with +part of the 18th Hussars (Colonel Moller) had moved round the right +flank until they reached the right rear of the enemy. Such a movement, +had Lucas Meyer been the only opponent, would have been above criticism; +but knowing, as we did, that there were several commandoes converging +upon Glencoe it was obviously taking a very grave and certain risk +to allow the cavalry to wander too far from support. They were soon +entangled in broken country and attacked by superior numbers of the +Boers. There was a time when they might have exerted an important +influence upon the action by attacking the Boer ponies behind the hills, +but the opportunity was allowed to pass. An attempt was made to get back +to the army, and a series of defensive positions were held to cover +the retreat, but the enemy's fire became too hot to allow them to be +retained. Every route save one appeared to be blocked, so the horsemen +took this, which led them into the heart of a second commando of the +enemy. Finding no way through, the force took up a defensive position, +part of them in a farm and part on a kopje which overlooked it. + +The party consisted of two troops of Hussars, one company of mounted +infantry of the Dublin Fusiliers, and one section of the mounted +infantry of the Rifles--about two hundred men in all. They were +subjected to a hot fire for some hours, many being killed and wounded. +Guns were brought up, and fired shell into the farmhouse. At 4.30 the +force, being in a perfectly hopeless position, laid down their arms. +Their ammunition was gone, many of their horses had stampeded, and they +were hemmed in by very superior numbers, so that no slightest slur can +rest upon the survivors for their decision to surrender, though the +movements which brought them to such a pass are more open to criticism. +They were the vanguard of that considerable body of humiliated and +bitter-hearted men who were to assemble at the capital of our brave and +crafty enemy. The remainder of the 18th Hussars, who under Major Knox +had been detached from the main force and sent across the Boer rear, +underwent a somewhat similar experience, but succeeded in extricating +themselves with a loss of six killed and ten wounded. Their efforts were +by no means lost, as they engaged the attention of a considerable body +of Boers during the day and were able to bring some prisoners back with +them. + +The battle of Talana Hill was a tactical victory but a strategic defeat. +It was a crude frontal attack without any attempt at even a feint of +flanking, but the valour of the troops, from general to private, carried +it through. The force was in a position so radically false that the only +use which they could make of a victory was to cover their own retreat. +From all points Boer commandoes were converging upon it, and already +it was understood that the guns at their command were heavier than any +which could be placed against them. This was made more clear on October +21st, the day after the battle, when the force, having withdrawn +overnight from the useless hill which they had captured, moved across +to a fresh position on the far side of the railway. At four in the +afternoon a very heavy gun opened from a distant hill, altogether beyond +the extreme range of our artillery, and plumped shell after shell into +our camp. It was the first appearance of the great Creusot. An officer +with several men of the Leicesters, and some of our few remaining +cavalry, were bit. The position was clearly impossible, so at two in the +morning of the 22nd the whole force was moved to a point to the south +of the town of Dundee. On the same day a reconnaissance was made in the +direction of Glencoe Station, but the passes were found to be strongly +occupied, and the little army marched back again to its original +position. The command had fallen to Colonel Yule, who justly considered +that his men were dangerously and uselessly exposed, and that his +correct strategy was to fall back, if it were still possible, and join +the main body at Ladysmith, even at the cost of abandoning the two +hundred sick and wounded who lay with General Symons in the hospital at +Dundee. It was a painful necessity, but no one who studies the situation +can have any doubt of its wisdom. The retreat was no easy task, a march +by road of some sixty or seventy miles through a very rough country with +an enemy pressing on every side. Its successful completion without any +loss or any demoralisation of the troops is perhaps as fine a military +exploit as any of our early victories. Through the energetic and loyal +co-operation of Sir George White, who fought the actions of Elandslaagte +and of Rietfontein in order to keep the way open for them, and owing +mainly to the skillful guidance of Colonel Dartnell, of the Natal +Police, they succeeded in their critical manoeuvre. On October 23rd they +were at Beith, on the 24th at Waselibank Spruit, on the 25th at Sunday +River, and next morning they marched, sodden with rain, plastered with +mud, dog-tired, but in the best of spirits, into Ladysmith amid the +cheers of their comrades. A battle, six days without settled sleep, four +days without a proper meal, winding up with a single march of thirty-two +miles over heavy ground and through a pelting rain storm--that was the +record of the Dundee column. They had fought and won, they had striven +and toiled to the utmost capacity of manhood, and the end of it all was +that they had reached the spot which they should never have left. But +their endurance could not be lost--no worthy deed is ever lost. Like the +light division, when they marched their fifty odd unbroken miles to +be present at Talavera, they leave a memory and a standard behind them +which is more important than success. It is by the tradition of such +sufferings and such endurance that others in other days are nerved to do +the like. + + + +CHAPTER 6. ELANDSLAAGTE AND RIETFONTEIN. + +While the Glencoe force had struck furiously at the army of Lucas Meyer, +and had afterwards by hard marching disengaged itself from the numerous +dangers which threatened it, its comrades at Ladysmith had loyally +co-operated in drawing off the attention of the enemy and keeping the +line of retreat open. + +On October 20th--the same day as the Battle of Talana Hill--the line was +cut by the Boers at a point nearly midway between Dundee and Ladysmith. +A small body of horsemen were the forerunners of a considerable +commando, composed of Freestaters, Transvaalers, and Germans, who had +advanced into Natal through Botha's Pass under the command of General +Koch. They had with them the two Maxim-Nordenfelds which had been +captured from the Jameson raiders, and were now destined to return +once more to British hands. Colonel Schiel, the German artillerist, had +charge of these guns. + +On the evening of that day General French, with a strong reconnoitering +party, including the Natal Carabineers, the 5th Lancers, and the 21st +battery, had defined the enemy's position. Next morning (the 21st) he +returned, but either the enemy had been reinforced during the night or +he had underrated them the day before, for the force which he took with +him was too weak for any serious attack. He had one battery of the Natal +artillery, with their little seven-pounder popguns, five squadrons +of the Imperial Horse, and, in the train which slowly accompanied his +advance, half a battalion of the Manchester Regiment. Elated by the news +of Talana Hill, and anxious to emulate their brothers of Dundee, the +little force moved out of Ladysmith in the early morning. + +Some at least of the men were animated by feelings such as seldom find a +place in the breast of the British soldier as he marches into battle. +A sense of duty, a belief in the justice of his cause, a love for his +regiment and for his country, these are the common incentives of every +soldier. But to the men of the Imperial Light Horse, recruited as they +were from among the British refugees of the Rand, there was added a +burning sense of injustice, and in many cases a bitter hatred against +the men whose rule had weighed so heavily upon them. In this singular +corps the ranks were full of wealthy men and men of education, who, +driven from their peaceful vocations in Johannesburg, were bent upon +fighting their way back to them again. A most unmerited slur had been +cast upon their courage in connection with the Jameson raid--a slur +which they and other similar corps have washed out for ever in their own +blood and that of their enemy. Chisholm, a fiery little Lancer, was in +command, with Karri Davis and Wools-Sampson, the two stalwarts who had +preferred Pretoria Gaol to the favours of Kruger, as his majors. The +troopers were on fire at the news that a cartel had arrived in Ladysmith +the night before, purporting to come from the Johannesburg Boers and +Hollanders, asking what uniform the Light Horse wore, as they were +anxious to meet them in battle. These men were fellow townsmen and knew +each other well. They need not have troubled about the uniform, for +before evening the Light Horse were near enough for them to know their +faces. + +It was about eight o'clock on a bright summer morning that the small +force came in contact with a few scattered Boer outposts, who retired, +firing, before the advance of the Imperial Light Horse. As they fell +back the green and white tents of the invaders came into view upon the +russet-coloured hillside of Elandslaagte. Down at the red brick railway +station the Boers could be seen swarming out of the buildings in which +they had spent the night. The little Natal guns, firing with obsolete +black powder, threw a few shells into the station, one of which, it +is said, penetrated a Boer ambulance which could not be seen by the +gunners. The accident was to be regretted, but as no patients could have +been in the ambulance the mischance was not a serious one. + +But the busy, smoky little seven-pounder guns were soon to meet their +master. Away up on the distant hillside, a long thousand yards beyond +their own furthest range, there was a sudden bright flash. No smoke, +only the throb of flame, and then the long sibilant scream of the shell, +and the thud as it buried itself in the ground under a limber. Such +judgment of range would have delighted the most martinet of inspectors +at Okehampton. Bang came another, and another, and another, right +into the heart of the battery. The six little guns lay back at their +extremest angle, and all barked together in impotent fury. Another shell +pitched over them, and the officer in command lowered his field-glass in +despair as he saw his own shells bursting far short upon the hillside. +Jameson's defeat does not seem to have been due to any defect in his +artillery. French, peering and pondering, soon came to the +conclusion that there were too many Boers for him, and that if those +fifteen-pounders desired target practice they should find some other +mark than the Natal Field Artillery. A few curt orders, and his whole +force was making its way to the rear. There, out of range of those +perilous guns, they halted, the telegraph wire was cut, a telephone +attachment was made, and French whispered his troubles into the +sympathetic ear of Ladysmith. He did not whisper in vain. What he had +to say was that where he had expected a few hundred riflemen he found +something like two thousand, and that where he expected no guns he found +two very excellent ones. The reply was that by road and by rail as many +men as could be spared were on their way to join him. + +Soon they began to drop in, those useful reinforcements--first the +Devons, quiet, business-like, reliable; then the Gordons, dashing, +fiery, brilliant. Two squadrons of the 5th Lancers, the 42nd R.F.A., the +21st R.F.A., another squadron of Lancers, a squadron of the 5th Dragoon +Guards--French began to feel that he was strong enough for the task in +front of him. He had a decided superiority of numbers and of guns. But +the others were on their favourite defensive on a hill. It would be a +fair fight and a deadly one. + +It was late after noon before the advance began. It was hard, among +those billowing hills, to make out the exact limits of the enemy's +position. All that was certain was that they were there, and that +we meant having them out if it were humanly possible. 'The enemy are +there,' said Ian Hamilton to his infantry; 'I hope you will shift +them out before sunset--in fact I know you will.' The men cheered and +laughed. In long open lines they advanced across the veld, while the +thunder of the two batteries behind them told the Boer gunners that it +was their turn now to know what it was to be outmatched. + +The idea was to take the position by a front and a flank attack, but +there seems to have been some difficulty in determining which was the +front and which the flank. In fact, it was only by trying that one +could know. General White with his staff had arrived from Ladysmith, +but refused to take the command out of French's hands. It is typical of +White's chivalrous spirit that within ten days he refused to identify +himself with a victory when it was within his right to do so, and took +the whole responsibility for a disaster at which he was not present. +Now he rode amid the shells and watched the able dispositions of his +lieutenant. + +About half-past three the action had fairly begun. In front of the +advancing British there lay a rolling hill, topped by a further one. The +lower hill was not defended, and the infantry, breaking from column of +companies into open order, advanced over it. Beyond was a broad grassy +valley which led up to the main position, a long kopje flanked by a +small sugar-loaf one Behind the green slope which led to the ridge of +death an ominous and terrible cloud was driving up, casting its black +shadow over the combatants. There was the stillness which goes before +some great convulsion of nature. The men pressed on in silence, the soft +thudding of their feet and the rattle of their sidearms filling the air +with a low and continuous murmur. An additional solemnity was given to +the attack by that huge black cloud which hung before them. + +The British guns had opened at a range of 4400 yards, and now against +the swarthy background there came the quick smokeless twinkle of the +Boer reply. It was an unequal fight, but gallantly sustained. A shot and +another to find the range; then a wreath of smoke from a bursting +shell exactly where the guns had been, followed by another and another. +Overmatched, the two Boer pieces relapsed into a sulky silence, +broken now and again by short spurts of frenzied activity. The British +batteries turned their attention away from them, and began to search the +ridge with shrapnel and prepare the way for the advancing infantry. + +The scheme was that the Devonshires should hold the enemy in front while +the main attack from the left flank was carried out by the Gordons, +the Manchesters, and the Imperial Light Horse. The words 'front' and +'flank,' however, cease to have any meaning with so mobile and elastic +a force, and the attack which was intended to come from the left became +really a frontal one, while the Devons found themselves upon the right +flank of the Boers. At the moment of the final advance the great black +cloud had burst, and a torrent of rain lashed into the faces of the men. +Slipping and sliding upon the wet grass, they advanced to the assault. + +And now amid the hissing of the rain there came the fuller, more +menacing whine of the Mauser bullets, and the ridge rattled from end to +end with the rifle fire. Men fell fast, but their comrades pressed +hotly on. There was a long way to go, for the summit of the position was +nearly 800 feet above the level of the railway. The hillside, which had +appeared to be one slope, was really a succession of undulations, so +that the advancing infantry alternately dipped into shelter and emerged +into a hail of bullets. The line of advance was dotted with khaki-clad +figures, some still in death, some writhing in their agony. Amid the +litter of bodies a major of the Gordons, shot through the leg, sat +philosophically smoking his pipe. Plucky little Chisholm, Colonel of the +Imperials, had fallen with two mortal wounds as he dashed forward waving +a coloured sash in the air. So long was the advance and so trying the +hill that the men sank panting upon the ground, and took their breath +before making another rush. As at Talana Hill, regimental formation was +largely gone, and men of the Manchesters, Gordons, and Imperial Light +Horse surged upwards in one long ragged fringe, Scotchman, Englishman, +and British Africander keeping pace in that race of death. And now at +last they began to see their enemy. Here and there among the boulders +in front of them there was the glimpse of a slouched hat, or a peep at +a flushed bearded face which drooped over a rifle barrel. There was a +pause, and then with a fresh impulse the wave of men gathered themselves +together and flung themselves forward. Dark figures sprang up from the +rocks in front. Some held up their rifles in token of surrender. Some +ran with heads sunk between their shoulders, jumping and ducking among +the rocks. The panting breathless climbers were on the edge of the +plateau. There were the two guns which had flashed so brightly, silenced +now, with a litter of dead gunners around them and one wounded officer +standing by a trail. A small body of the Boers still resisted. Their +appearance horrified some of our men. 'They were dressed in black +frock coats and looked like a lot of rather seedy business men,' said a +spectator. 'It seemed like murder to kill them.' Some surrendered, and +some fought to the death where they stood. Their leader Koch, an old +gentleman with a white beard, lay amidst the rocks, wounded in three +places. He was treated with all courtesy and attention, but died in +Ladysmith Hospital some days afterwards. + +In the meanwhile the Devonshire Regiment had waited until the attack +had developed and had then charged the hill upon the flank, while +the artillery moved up until it was within 2000 yards of the enemy's +position. The Devons met with a less fierce resistance than the others, +and swept up to the summit in time to head off some of the fugitives. +The whole of our infantry were now upon the ridge. + +But even so these dour fighters were not beaten. They clung desperately +to the further edges of the plateau, firing from behind the rocks. +There had been a race for the nearest gun between an officer of the +Manchesters and a drummer sergeant of the Gordons. The officer won, and +sprang in triumph on to the piece. Men of all regiments swarmed round +yelling and cheering, when upon their astonished ears there sounded the +'Cease fire' and then the 'Retire.' It was incredible, and yet it pealed +out again, unmistakable in its urgency. With the instinct of discipline +the men were slowly falling back. And then the truth of it came upon +the minds of some of them. The crafty enemy had learned our bugle calls. +'Retire be damned! shrieked a little bugler, and blew the 'Advance' with +all the breath that the hillside had left him. The men, who had retired +a hundred yards and uncovered the guns, flooded back over the plateau, +and in the Boer camp which lay beneath it a white flag showed that +the game was up. A squadron of the 5th Lancers and of the 5th Dragoon +Guards, under Colonel Gore of the latter regiment, had prowled round +the base of the hill, and in the fading light they charged through and +through the retreating Boers, killing several, and making from twenty to +thirty prisoners. It was one of the very few occasions in the war where +the mounted Briton overtook the mounted Boer. + +'What price Majuba?' was the cry raised by some of the infantry as they +dashed up to the enemy's position, and the action may indeed be said to +have been in some respects the converse of that famous fight. It is true +that there were many more British at Elandslaagte than Boers at Majuba, +but then the defending force was much more numerous also, and the +British had no guns there. It is true, also, that Majuba is very much +more precipitous than Elandslaagte, but then every practical soldier +knows that it is easier to defend a moderate glacis than an abrupt +slope, which gives cover under its boulders to the attacker while the +defender has to crane his head over the edge to look down. On the whole, +this brilliant little action may be said to have restored things to +their true proportion, and to have shown that, brave as the Boers +undoubtedly are, there is no military feat within their power which +is not equally possible to the British soldier. Talana Hill and +Elandslaagte, fought on successive days, were each of them as gallant an +exploit as Majuba. + +We had more to show for our victory than for the previous one at Dundee. +Two Maxim-Nordenfeld guns, whose efficiency had been painfully evident +during the action, were a welcome addition to our artillery. Two hundred +and fifty Boers were killed and wounded and about two hundred taken +prisoners, the loss falling most heavily upon the Johannesburgers, the +Germans, and the Hollanders. General Koch, Dr. Coster, Colonel Schiel, +Pretorius, and other well-known Transvaalers fell into our hands. Our +own casualty list consisted of 41 killed and 220 wounded, much the same +number as at Talana Hill, the heaviest losses falling upon the Gordon +Highlanders and the Imperial Light Horse. + +In the hollow where the Boer tents had stood, amid the laagered wagons +of the vanquished, under a murky sky and a constant drizzle of rain, the +victors spent the night. Sleep was out of the question, for all night +the fatigue parties were searching the hillside and the wounded were +being carried in. Camp-fires were lit and soldiers and prisoners crowded +round them, and it is pleasant to recall that the warmest corner and the +best of their rude fare were always reserved for the downcast Dutchmen, +while words of rude praise and sympathy softened the pain of defeat. It +is the memory of such things which may in happier days be more potent +than all the wisdom of statesmen in welding our two races into one. + +Having cleared the Boer force from the line of the railway, it is +evident that General White could not continue to garrison the point, as +he was aware that considerable forces were moving from the north, +and his first duty was the security of Ladysmith. Early next morning +(October 22nd), therefore, his weary but victorious troops returned +to the town. Once there he learned, no doubt, that General Yule had +no intention of using the broken railway for his retreat, but that he +intended to come in a circuitous fashion by road. White's problem was +to hold tight to the town and at the same time to strike hard at any +northern force so as to prevent them from interfering with Yule's +retreat. It was in the furtherance of this scheme that he fought upon +October 24th the action of Rietfontein, an engagement slight in itself, +but important on account of the clear road which was secured for the +weary forces retiring from Dundee. + +The army from the Free State, of which the commando vanquished at +Elandslaagte was the vanguard, had been slowly and steadily debouching +from the passes, and working south and eastwards to cut the line between +Dundee and Ladysmith. It was White's intention to prevent them from +crossing the Newcastle Road, and for this purpose he sallied out of +Ladysmith on Tuesday the 24th, having with him two regiments of cavalry, +the 5th Lancers and the 19th Hussars, the 42nd and 53rd field batteries +with the 10th mountain battery, four infantry regiments, the Devons, +Liverpools, Gloucesters, and 2nd King's Royal Rifles, the Imperial Light +Horse, and the Natal Volunteers--some four thousand men in all. + +The enemy were found to be in possession of a line of hills within +seven miles of Ladysmith, the most conspicuous of which is called Tinta +Inyoni. It was no part of General White's plan to attempt to drive him +from this position--it is not wise generalship to fight always upon +ground of the enemy's choosing--but it was important to hold him where +he was, and to engage his attention during this last day of the march +of the retreating column. For this purpose, since no direct attack was +intended, the guns were of more importance than the infantry--and indeed +the infantry should, one might imagine, have been used solely as an +escort for the artillery. A desultory and inconclusive action ensued +which continued from nine in the morning until half-past one in the +afternoon. A well-directed fire of the Boer guns from the hills was +dominated and controlled by our field artillery, while the advance of +their riflemen was restrained by shrapnel. The enemy's guns were more +easily marked down than at Elandslaagte, as they used black powder. The +ranges varied from three to four thousand yards. Our losses in the +whole action would have been insignificant had it not happened that the +Gloucester Regiment advanced somewhat incautiously into the open and was +caught in a cross fire of musketry which struck down Colonel Wilford and +fifty of his officers and men. Within four days Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, +of the Gordons, Colonel Chisholm, of the Light Horse, Colonel Gunning, +of the Rifles, and now Colonel Wilford, of the Gloucesters, had all +fallen at the head of their regiments. In the afternoon General White, +having accomplished his purpose and secured the safety of the Dundee +column while traversing the dangerous Biggarsberg passes, withdrew his +force to Ladysmith. We have no means of ascertaining the losses of the +Boers, but they were probably slight. On our side we lost 109 killed and +wounded, of which only 13 cases were fatal. Of this total 64 belonged +to the Gloucesters and 25 to the troops raised in Natal. Next day, as +already narrated, the whole British army was re-assembled once more at +Ladysmith, and the campaign was to enter upon a new phase. + +At the end of this first vigorous week of hostilities it is interesting +to sum up the net result. The strategical advantage had lain with the +Boers. They had made our position at Dundee untenable and had driven us +back to Ladysmith. They had the country and the railway for the northern +quarter of the colony in their possession. They had killed and wounded +between six and seven hundred of our men, and they had captured some two +hundred of our cavalry, while we had been compelled at Dundee to leave +considerable stores and our wounded, including General Penn Symons, who +actually died while a prisoner in their hands. On the other hand, the +tactical advantages lay with us. We had twice driven them from their +positions, and captured two of their guns. We had taken two hundred +prisoners, and had probably killed and wounded as many as we had lost. +On the whole, the honours of that week's fighting in Natal may be said +to have been fairly equal--which is more than we could claim for many a +weary week to come. + + + +CHAPTER 7. THE BATTLE OF LADYSMITH. + +Sir George White had now reunited his force, and found himself in +command of a formidable little army some twelve thousand in number. His +cavalry included the 5th Lancers, the 5th Dragoons, part of the 18th and +the whole of the 19th Hussars, the Natal Carabineers, the Border Rifles, +some mounted infantry, and the Imperial Light Horse. Among his infantry +were the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Dublin Fusiliers, and the King's +Royal Rifles, fresh from the ascent of Talana Hill, the Gordons, the +Manchesters, and the Devons who had been blooded at Elandslaagte, +the Leicesters, the Liverpools, the 2nd battalion of the King's Royal +Rifles, the 2nd Rifle Brigade, and the Gloucesters, who had been so +roughly treated at Rietfontein. He had six batteries of excellent field +artillery--the 13th, 21st, 42nd, 53rd, 67th, 69th, and No. 10 Mountain +Battery of screw guns. No general could have asked for a more compact +and workmanlike little force. + +It had been recognised by the British General from the beginning that +his tactics must be defensive, since he was largely outnumbered and +since also any considerable mishap to his force would expose the +whole colony of Natal to destruction. The actions of Elandslaagte and +Rietfontein were forced upon him in order to disengage his compromised +detachment, but now there was no longer any reason why he should +assume the offensive. He knew that away out on the Atlantic a trail of +transports which already extended from the Channel to Cape de Verde +were hourly drawing nearer to him with the army corps from England. In a +fortnight or less the first of them would be at Durban. It was his game, +therefore, to keep his army intact, and to let those throbbing engines +and whirling propellers do the work of the empire. Had he entrenched +himself up to his nose and waited, it would have paid him best in the +end. + +But so tame and inglorious a policy is impossible to a fighting soldier. +He could not with his splendid force permit himself to be shut in +without an action. What policy demands honour may forbid. On October +27th there were already Boers and rumours of Boers on every side of +him. Joubert with his main body was moving across from Dundee. The +Freestaters were to the north and west. Their combined numbers were +uncertain, but at least it was already proved that they were far more +numerous and also more formidable than had been anticipated. We had had +a taste of their artillery also, and the pleasant delusion that it would +be a mere useless encumbrance to a Boer force had vanished for ever. +It was a grave thing to leave the town in order to give battle, for +the mobile enemy might swing round and seize it behind us. Nevertheless +White determined to make the venture. + +On the 29th the enemy were visibly converging upon the town. From a high +hill within rifleshot of the houses a watcher could see no fewer than +six Boer camps to the east and north. French, with his cavalry, pushed +out feelers, and coasted along the edge of the advancing host. His +report warned White that if he would strike before all the scattered +bands were united he must do so at once. The wounded were sent down to +Pietermaritzburg, and it would bear explanation why the non-combatants +did not accompany them. On the evening of the same day Joubert in person +was said to be only six miles off, and a party of his men cut the water +supply of the town. The Klip, however, a fair-sized river, runs through +Ladysmith, so that there was no danger of thirst. The British had +inflated and sent up a balloon, to the amazement of the back-veld Boers; +its report confirmed the fact that the enemy was in force in front of +and around them. + +On the night of the 29th General White detached two of his best +regiments, the Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucesters, with No. 10 Mountain +Battery, to advance under cover of the darkness and to seize and hold +a long ridge called Nicholson's Nek, which lay about six miles to the +north of Ladysmith. Having determined to give battle on the next day, +his object was to protect his left wing against those Freestaters who +were still moving from the north and west, and also to keep a pass +open by which his cavalry might pursue the Boer fugitives in case of a +British victory. This small detached column numbered about a thousand +men--whose fate will be afterwards narrated. + +At five o'clock on the morning of the 30th the Boers, who had already +developed a perfect genius for hauling heavy cannon up the most +difficult heights, opened fire from one of the hills which lie to the +north of the town. Before the shot was fired, the forces of the British +had already streamed out of Ladysmith to test the strength of the +invaders. + +White's army was divided into three columns. On the extreme left, quite +isolated from the others, was the small Nicholson's Nek detachment under +the command of Colonel Carleton of the Fusiliers (one of three gallant +brothers each of whom commands a British regiment). With him was Major +Adye of the staff. On the right British flank Colonel Grimwood commanded +a brigade composed of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the King's Royal +Rifles, the Leicesters, the Liverpools, and the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. +In the centre Colonel Ian Hamilton commanded the Devons, the Gordons, +the Manchesters, and the 2nd battalion of the Rifle Brigade, which +marched direct into the battle from the train which had brought them +from Durban. Six batteries of artillery were massed in the centre under +Colonel Downing. French with the cavalry and mounted infantry was on the +extreme right, but found little opportunity for the use of the mounted +arm that day. + +The Boer position, so far as it could be seen, was a formidable one. +Their centre lay upon one of the spurs of Signal Hill, about three miles +from the town. Here they had two forty-pounders and three other lighter +guns, but their artillery strength developed both in numbers and in +weight of metal as the day wore on. Of their dispositions little could +be seen. An observer looking westward might discern with his glass +sprays of mounted riflemen galloping here and there over the downs, +and possibly small groups where the gunners stood by their guns, or the +leaders gazed down at that town which they were destined to have in view +for such a weary while. On the dun-coloured plains before the town, the +long thin lines, with an occasional shifting sparkle of steel, showed +where Hamilton's and Grimwood's infantry were advancing. In the clear +cold air of an African morning every detail could be seen, down to the +distant smoke of a train toiling up the heavy grades which lead from +Frere over the Colenso Bridge to Ladysmith. + +The scrambling, inconsequential, unsatisfactory action which ensued is +as difficult to describe as it must have been to direct. The Boer +front covered some seven or eight miles, with kopjes, like chains of +fortresses, between. They formed a huge semicircle of which our advance +was the chord, and they were able from this position to pour in +a converging artillery fire which grew steadily hotter as the day +advanced. In the early part of the day our forty-two guns, working +furiously, though with a want of accuracy which may be due to those +errors of refraction which are said to be common in the limpid air of +the veld, preserved their superiority. There appears to have been a want +of concentration about our fire, and at some periods of the action +each particular battery was firing at some different point of the Boer +half-circle. Sometimes for an hour on end the Boer reply would die +away altogether, only to break out with augmented violence, and with +an accuracy which increased our respect for their training. Huge +shells--the largest that ever burst upon a battlefield--hurled from +distances which were unattainable by our fifteen-pounders, enveloped our +batteries in smoke and flame. One enormous Creusot gun on Pepworth Hill +threw a 96-pound shell a distance of four miles, and several 40-pound +howitzers outweighted our field guns. And on the same day on which we +were so roughly taught how large the guns were which labour and good +will could haul on to the field of battle, we learned also that our +enemy--to the disgrace of our Board of Ordnance be it recorded--was more +in touch with modern invention than we were, and could show us not only +the largest, but also the smallest, shell which had yet been used. Would +that it had been our officials instead of our gunners who heard the +devilish little one-pound shells of the Vickers-Maxim automatic gun, +exploding with a continuous string of crackings and bangings, like a +huge cracker, in their faces and about their ears! + +Up to seven o'clock our infantry had shown no disposition to press the +attack, for with so huge a position in front of them, and so many hills +which were held by the enemy, it was difficult to know what line of +advance should be taken, or whether the attack should not be converted +into a mere reconnaissance. Shortly after that hour, however, the Boers +decided the question by themselves developing a vigorous movement upon +Grimwood and the right flank. With field guns, Maxims, and rifle fire, +they closed rapidly in upon him. The centre column was drafted off, +regiment by regiment, to reinforce the right. The Gordons, Devons, +Manchesters, and three batteries were sent over to Grimwood's relief, +and the 5th Lancers, acting as infantry, assisted him to hold on. + +At nine o'clock there was a lull, but it was evident that fresh +commandoes and fresh guns were continually streaming into the firing +line. The engagement opened again with redoubled violence, and +Grimwood's three advanced battalions fell back, abandoning the ridge +which they had held for five hours. The reason for this withdrawal was +not that they could not continue to hold their position, but it was +that a message had just reached Sir George White from Colonel Knox, +commanding in Ladysmith, to the effect that it looked as if the enemy +was about to rush the town from the other side. Crossing the open in +some disorder, they lost heavily, and would have done so more had not +the 13th Field Battery, followed after an interval by the 53rd, dashed +forward, firing shrapnel at short ranges, in order to cover the retreat +of the infantry. Amid the bursting of the huge 96-pound shells, and the +snapping of the vicious little automatic one-pounders, with a cross-fire +of rifles as well, Abdy's and Dawkins' gallant batteries swung round +their muzzles, and hit back right and left, flashing and blazing, amid +their litter of dead horses and men. So severe was the fire that the +guns were obscured by the dust knocked up by the little shells of the +automatic gun. Then, when their work was done and the retiring infantry +had straggled over the ridge, the covering guns whirled and bounded +after them. So many horses had fallen that two pieces were left until +the teams could be brought back for them, which was successfully done +through the gallantry of Captain Thwaites. The action of these batteries +was one of the few gleams of light in a not too brilliant day's work. +With splendid coolness and courage they helped each other by alternate +retirements after the retreating infantry had passed them. The 21st +Battery (Blewitt's) also distinguished itself by its staunchness in +covering the retirement of the cavalry, while the 42nd (Goulburn's) +suffered the heaviest losses of any. On the whole, such honours as fell +to our lot were mainly with the gunners. + +White must have been now uneasy for his position, and it had become +apparent that his only course was to fall back and concentrate upon the +town. His left flank was up in the air, and the sound of distant firing, +wafted over five miles of broken country, was the only message which +arrived from them. His right had been pushed back, and, most dangerous +of all, his centre had ceased to exist, for only the 2nd Rifle Brigade +remained there. What would happen if the enemy burst rudely through +and pushed straight for the town? It was the more possible, as the +Boer artillery had now proved itself to be far heavier than ours. That +terrible 96-pounder, serenely safe and out of range, was plumping its +great projectiles into the masses of retiring troops. The men had had +little sleep and little food, and this unanswerable fire was an ordeal +for a force which is retreating. A retirement may very rapidly become +a rout under such circumstances. It was with some misgivings that the +officers saw their men quicken their pace and glance back over their +shoulders at the whine and screech of the shell. They were still some +miles from home, and the plain was open. What could be done to give them +some relief? + +And at that very moment there came the opportune and unexpected answer. +That plume of engine smoke which the watcher had observed in the +morning had drawn nearer and nearer, as the heavy train came puffing and +creaking up the steep inclines. Then, almost before it had drawn up at +the Ladysmith siding, there had sprung from it a crowd of merry bearded +fellows, with ready hands and strange sea cries, pulling and hauling, +with rope and purchase to get out the long slim guns which they had +lashed on the trucks. Singular carriages were there, specially invented +by Captain Percy Scott, and labouring and straining, they worked +furiously to get the 12-pounder quick-firers into action. Then at last +it was done, and the long tubes swept upwards to the angle at which they +might hope to reach that monster on the hill at the horizon. Two of them +craned their long inquisitive necks up and exchanged repartees with the +big Creusot. And so it was that the weary and dispirited British troops +heard a crash which was louder and sharper than that of their field +guns, and saw far away upon the distant hill a great spurt of smoke +and flame to show where the shell had struck. Another and another and +another--and then they were troubled no more. Captain Hedworth Lambton +and his men had saved the situation. The masterful gun had met its own +master and sank into silence, while the somewhat bedraggled field force +came trailing back into Ladysmith, leaving three hundred of their number +behind them. It was a high price to pay, but other misfortunes were +in store for us which made the retirement of the morning seem +insignificant. + +In the meantime we may follow the unhappy fortunes of the small column +which had, as already described, been sent out by Sir George White in +order, if possible, to prevent the junction of the two Boer armies, and +at the same time to threaten the right wing of the main force, which was +advancing from the direction of Dundee, Sir George White throughout the +campaign consistently displayed one quality which is a charming one in +an individual, but may be dangerous in a commander. He was a confirmed +optimist. Perhaps his heart might have failed him in the dark days to +come had he not been so. But whether one considers the non-destruction +of the Newcastle Railway, the acquiescence in the occupation of Dundee, +the retention of the non combatants in Ladysmith until it was too late +to get rid of their useless mouths, or the failure to make any serious +preparations for the defence of the town until his troops were beaten +back into it, we see always the same evidence of a man who habitually +hopes that all will go well, and is in consequence remiss in making +preparations for their going ill. But unhappily in every one of these +instances they did go ill, though the slowness of the Boers enabled +us, both at Dundee and at Ladysmith, to escape what might have been +disaster. + +Sir George White has so nobly and frankly taken upon himself the blame +of Nicholson's Nek that an impartial historian must rather regard his +self-condemnation as having been excessive. The immediate causes of the +failure were undoubtedly the results of pure ill-fortune, and depended +on things outside his control. But it is evident that the strategic plan +which would justify the presence of this column at Nicholson's Nek +was based upon the supposition that the main army won their action at +Lombard's Kop. In that case White might swing round his right and pin +the Boers between himself and Nicholson's Nek. In any case he could then +re-unite with his isolated wing. But if he should lose his battle--what +then? What was to become of this detachment five miles up in the air? +How was it to be extricated? The gallant Irishman seems to have waved +aside the very idea of defeat. An assurance was, it is reported, given +to the leaders of the column that by eleven o'clock next morning they +would be relieved. So they would if White had won his action. But-- + +The force chosen to operate independently consisted of four and a half +companies of the Gloucester regiment, six companies of the Royal Irish +Fusiliers, and No. 10 Mountain Battery of six seven-pounder screw-guns. +They were both old soldier regiments from India, and the Fusiliers had +shown only ten days before at Talana Hill the stuff of which they were +made. Colonel Carleton, of the Fusiliers, to whose exertions much of the +success of the retreat from Dundee was due, commanded the column, with +Major Adye as staff officer. On the night of Sunday, October 29th, +they tramped out of Ladysmith, a thousand men, none better in the army. +Little they thought, as they exchanged a jest or two with the outlying +pickets, that they were seeing the last of their own armed countrymen +for many a weary month. + +The road was irregular and the night was moonless. On either side the +black loom of the hills bulked vaguely through the darkness. The column +tramped stolidly along, the Fusiliers in front, the guns and Gloucesters +behind. Several times a short halt was called to make sure of the +bearings. At last, in the black cold hours which come between midnight +and morning, the column swung to the left out of the road. In front +of them, hardly visible, stretched a long black kopje. It was the very +Nicholson's Nek which they had come to occupy. Carleton and Adye must +have heaved a sigh of relief as they realised that they had actually +struck it. The force was but two hundred yards from the position, and +all had gone without a hitch. And yet in those two hundred yards there +came an incident which decided the fate both of their enterprise and of +themselves. + +Out of the darkness there blundered and rattled five horsemen, their +horses galloping, the loose stones flying around them. In the dim light +they were gone as soon as seen. Whence coming, whither going, no one +knows, nor is it certain whether it was design or ignorance or panic +which sent them riding so wildly through the darkness. Somebody fired. +A sergeant of the Fusiliers took the bullet through his hand. Some +one else shouted to fix bayonets. The mules which carried the spare +ammunition kicked and reared. There was no question of treachery, for +they were led by our own men, but to hold two frightened mules, one with +either hand, is a feat for a Hercules. They lashed and tossed and bucked +themselves loose, and an instant afterwards were flying helter skelter +through the column. Nearly all the mules caught the panic. In vain the +men held on to their heads. In the mad rush they were galloped over and +knocked down by the torrent of frightened creatures. In the gloom of +that early hour the men must have thought that they were charged by +cavalry. The column was dashed out of all military order as effectively +as if a regiment of dragoons had ridden over them. When the cyclone had +passed, and the men had with many a muttered curse gathered themselves +into their ranks once more, they realised how grave was the misfortune +which had befallen them. There, where those mad hoofs still rattled +in the distance, were their spare cartridges, their shells, and their +cannon. A mountain gun is not drawn upon wheels, but is carried in +adjustable parts upon mule-back. A wheel had gone south, a trail east, a +chase west. Some of the cartridges were strewn upon the road. Most were +on their way back to Ladysmith. There was nothing for it but to face +this new situation and to determine what should be done. + +It has been often and naturally asked, why did not Colonel Carleton make +his way back at once upon the loss of his guns and ammunition, while +it was still dark? One or two considerations are evident. In the first +place, it is natural to a good soldier to endeavour to retrieve a +situation rather than to abandon his enterprise. His prudence, did he +not do so, might become the subject of public commendation, but might +also provoke some private comment. A soldier's training is to take +chances, and to do the best he can with the material at his disposal. +Again, Colonel Carleton and Major Adye knew the general plan of the +battle which would be raging within a very few hours, and they quite +understood that by withdrawing they would expose General White's left +flank to attack from the forces (consisting, as we know now, of the +Orange Freestaters and of the Johannesburg Police) who were coming from +the north and west. He hoped to be relieved by eleven, and he believed +that, come what might, he could hold out until then. These are the +most obvious of the considerations which induced Colonel Carleton to +determine to carry out so far as he could the programme which had been +laid down for him and his command. He marched up the hill and occupied +the position. + +His heart, however, must have sunk when he examined it. It was very +large--too large to be effectively occupied by the force which he +commanded. The length was about a mile and the breadth four hundred +yards. Shaped roughly like the sole of a boot, it was only the heel end +which he could hope to hold. Other hills all round offered cover for +Boer riflemen. Nothing daunted, however, he set his men to work at once +building sangars with the loose stones. With the full dawn and the first +snapping of Boer Mausers from the hills around they had thrown up some +sort of rude defences which they might hope to hold until help should +come. + +But how could help come when there was no means by which they could let +White know the plight in which they found themselves? They had brought +a heliograph with them, but it was on the back of one of those accursed +mules. The Boers were thick around them, and they could not send a +messenger. An attempt was made to convert a polished biscuit tin into a +heliograph, but with poor success. A Kaffir was dispatched with promises +of a heavy bribe, but he passed out of history. And there in the clear +cold morning air the balloon hung to the south of them where the first +distant thunder of White's guns was beginning to sound. If only they +could attract the attention of that balloon! Vainly they wagged flags at +it. Serene and unresponsive it brooded over the distant battle. + +And now the Boers were thickening round them on every side. Christian +de Wet, a name soon to be a household word, marshaled the Boer attack, +which was soon strengthened by the arrival of Van Dam and his Police. At +five o'clock the fire began, at six it was warm, at seven warmer still. +Two companies of the Gloucesters lined a sangar on the tread of +the sole, to prevent any one getting too near to the heel. A fresh +detachment of Boers, firing from a range of nearly one thousand yards, +took this defence in the rear. Bullets fell among the men, and smacked +up against the stone breastwork. The two companies were withdrawn, and +lost heavily in the open as they crossed it. An incessant rattle and +crackle of rifle fire came from all round, drawing very slowly but +steadily nearer. Now and then the whisk of a dark figure from one +boulder to another was all that ever was seen of the attackers. The +British fired slowly and steadily, for every cartridge counted, but the +cover of the Boers was so cleverly taken that it was seldom that there +was much to aim at. 'All you could ever see,' says one who was present, +'were the barrels of the rifles.' There was time for thought in +that long morning, and to some of the men it may have occurred what +preparation for such fighting had they ever had in the mechanical +exercises of the parade ground, or the shooting of an annual bagful of +cartridges at exposed targets at a measured range. It is the warfare of +Nicholson's Nek, not that of Laffan's Plain, which has to be learned in +the future. + +During those weary hours lying on the bullet-swept hill and listening +to the eternal hissing in the air and clicking on the rocks, the British +soldiers could see the fight which raged to the south of them. It was +not a cheering sight, and Carleton and Adye with their gallant comrades +must have felt their hearts grow heavier as they watched. The Boers' +shells bursting among the British batteries, the British shells bursting +short of their opponents. The Long Toms laid at an angle of forty-five +plumped their huge shells into the British guns at a range where the +latter would not dream of unlimbering. And then gradually the rifle fire +died away also, crackling more faintly as White withdrew to Ladysmith. +At eleven o'clock Carleton's column recognised that it had been left to +its fate. As early as nine a heliogram had been sent to them to retire +as the opportunity served, but to leave the hill was certainly to court +annihilation. + +The men had then been under fire for six hours, and with their losses +mounting and their cartridges dwindling, all hope had faded from their +minds. But still for another hour, and yet another, and yet another, +they held doggedly on. Nine and a half hours they clung to that pile +of stones. The Fusiliers were still exhausted from the effect of their +march from Glencoe and their incessant work since. Many fell asleep +behind the boulders. Some sat doggedly with their useless rifles +and empty pouches beside them. Some picked cartridges off their dead +comrades. What were they fighting for? It was hopeless, and they knew +it. But always there was the honour of the flag, the glory of the +regiment, the hatred of a proud and brave man to acknowledge defeat. And +yet it had to come. There were some in that force who were ready for +the reputation of the British army, and for the sake of an example +of military virtue, to die stolidly where they stood, or to lead the +'Faugh-a-ballagh' boys, or the gallant 28th, in one last death-charge +with empty rifles against the unseen enemy. They may have been right, +these stalwarts. Leonidas and his three hundred did more for the Spartan +cause by their memory than by their living valour. Man passes like the +brown leaves, but the tradition of a nation lives on like the oak that +sheds them--and the passing of the leaves is nothing if the bole be the +sounder for it. But a counsel of perfection is easy at a study table. +There are other things to be said--the responsibility of officers for +the lives of their men, the hope that they may yet be of service to +their country. All was weighed, all was thought of, and so at last the +white flag went up. The officer who hoisted it could see no one unhurt +save himself, for all in his sangar were hit, and the others were +so placed that he was under the impression that they had withdrawn +altogether. Whether this hoisting of the flag necessarily compromised +the whole force is a difficult question, but the Boers instantly left +their cover, and the men in the sangars behind, some of whom had not +been so seriously engaged, were ordered by their officers to desist from +firing. In an instant the victorious Boers were among them. + +It was not, as I have been told by those who were there, a sight which +one would wish to have seen or care now to dwell upon. Haggard officers +cracked their sword-blades and cursed the day that they had been born. +Privates sobbed with their stained faces buried in their hands. Of all +tests of discipline that ever they had stood, the hardest to many was +to conform to all that the cursed flapping handkerchief meant to them. +'Father, father, we had rather have died,' cried the Fusiliers to +their priest. Gallant hearts, ill paid, ill thanked, how poorly do +the successful of the world compare with their unselfish loyalty and +devotion! + +But the sting of contumely or insult was not added to their misfortunes. +There is a fellowship of brave men which rises above the feuds of +nations, and may at last go far, we hope, to heal them. From every rock +there rose a Boer--strange, grotesque figures many of them--walnut-brown +and shaggy-bearded, and swarmed on to the hill. No term of triumph or +reproach came from their lips. 'You will not say now that the young Boer +cannot shoot,' was the harshest word which the least restrained of them +made use of. Between one and two hundred dead and wounded were scattered +over the hill. Those who were within reach of human help received all +that could be given. Captain Rice, of the Fusiliers, was carried wounded +down the hill on the back of one giant, and he has narrated how the man +refused the gold piece which was offered him. Some asked the soldiers +for their embroidered waist-belts as souvenirs of the day. They will +for generations remain as the most precious ornaments of some colonial +farmhouse. Then the victors gathered together and sang psalms, not +jubilant but sad and quavering. The prisoners, in a downcast column, +weary, spent, and unkempt, filed off to the Boer laager at Waschbank, +there to take train for Pretoria. And at Ladysmith a bugler of +Fusiliers, his arm bound, the marks of battle on his dress and person, +burst in upon the camp with the news that two veteran regiments had +covered the flank of White's retreating army, but at the cost of their +own annihilation. + + + +CHAPTER 8. LORD METHUEN'S ADVANCE. + +At the end of a fortnight of actual hostilities in Natal the situation +of the Boer army was such as to seriously alarm the public at home, +and to cause an almost universal chorus of ill-natured delight from +the press of all European nations. Whether the reason was hatred of +ourselves, or the sporting instinct which backs the smaller against +the larger, or the influence of the ubiquitous Dr. Leyds and his secret +service fund, it is certain that the continental papers have never +been so unanimous as in their premature rejoicings over what, with +an extraordinary want of proportion, and ignorance of our national +character, they imagined to be a damaging blow to the British Empire. +France, Russia, Austria, and Germany were equally venomous against us, +nor can the visit of the German Emperor, though a courteous and timely +action in itself, entirely atone for the senseless bitterness of the +press of the Fatherland. Great Britain was roused out of her habitual +apathy and disregard for foreign opinion by this chorus of execration, +and braced herself for a greater effort in consequence. She was cheered +by the sympathy of her friends in the United States, and by the good +wishes of the smaller nations of Europe, notably of Italy, Denmark, +Greece, Turkey, and Hungary. + +The exact position at the end of this fortnight of hard slogging was +that a quarter of the colony of Natal and a hundred miles of railway +were in the hands of the enemy. Five distinct actions had been fought, +none of them perhaps coming within the fair meaning of a battle. Of +these one had been a distinct British victory, two had been indecisive, +one had been unfortunate, and one had been a positive disaster. We had +lost about twelve hundred prisoners and a battery of small guns. +The Boers had lost two fine guns and three hundred prisoners. Twelve +thousand British troops had been shut up in Ladysmith, and there was no +serious force between the invaders and the sea. Only in those distant +transports, where the grimy stokers shoveled and strove, were there +hopes for the safety of Natal and the honour of the Empire. In Cape +Colony the loyalists waited with bated breath, knowing well that there +was nothing to check a Free State invasion, and that if it came no +bounds could be placed upon how far it might advance, or what effect it +might have upon the Dutch population. + +Leaving Ladysmith now apparently within the grasp of the Boers, who had +settled down deliberately to the work of throttling it, the narrative +must pass to the western side of the seat of war, and give a consecutive +account of the events which began with the siege of Kimberley and led to +the ineffectual efforts of Lord Methuen's column to relieve it. + +On the declaration of war two important movements had been made by the +Boers upon the west. One was the advance of a considerable body under +the formidable Cronje to attack Mafeking, an enterprise which demands a +chapter of its own. The other was the investment of Kimberley by a force +which consisted principally of Freestaters under the command of Wessels +and Botha. The place was defended by Colonel Kekewich, aided by the +advice and help of Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who had gallantly thrown himself +into the town by one of the last trains which reached it. As the founder +and director of the great De Beers diamond mines he desired to be with +his people in the hour of their need, and it was through his initiative +that the town had been provided with the rifles and cannon with which to +sustain the siege. + +The troops which Colonel Kekewich had at his disposal consisted of four +companies of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment (his own regiment), +with some Royal Engineers, a mountain battery, and two machine guns. In +addition there were the extremely spirited and capable local forces, a +hundred and twenty men of the Cape Police, two thousand Volunteers, +a body of Kimberley Light Horse, and a battery of light seven-pounder +guns. There were also eight Maxims which were mounted upon the huge +mounds of debris which surrounded the mines and formed most efficient +fortresses. + +A small reinforcement of police had, under tragic circumstances, reached +the town. Vryburg, the capital of British Bechuanaland, lies 145 miles +to the north of Kimberley. The town has strong Dutch sympathies, and on +the news of the approach of a Boer force with artillery it was evident +that it could not be held. Scott, the commandant of police, made some +attempt to organise a defence, but having no artillery and finding +little sympathy, he was compelled to abandon his charge to the invaders. +The gallant Scott rode south with his troopers, and in his humiliation +and grief at his inability to preserve his post he blew out his brains +upon the journey. Vryburg was immediately occupied by the Boers, and +British Bechuanaland was formally annexed to the South African Republic. +This policy of the instant annexation of all territories invaded was +habitually carried out by the enemy, with the idea that British subjects +who joined them would in this way be shielded from the consequences of +treason. Meanwhile several thousand Freestaters and Transvaalers with +artillery had assembled round Kimberley, and all news of the town was +cut off. Its relief was one of the first tasks which presented itself +to the inpouring army corps. The obvious base of such a movement must be +Orange River, and there and at De Aar the stores for the advance began +to be accumulated. At the latter place especially, which is the +chief railway junction in the north of the colony, enormous masses of +provisions, ammunition, and fodder were collected, with thousands of +mules which the long arm of the British Government had rounded up from +many parts of the world. The guard over these costly and essential +supplies seems to have been a dangerously weak one. Between Orange River +and De Aar, which are sixty miles apart, there were the 9th Lancers, the +Royal Munsters, the 2nd King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and the +1st Northumberland Fusiliers, under three thousand men in all, with two +million pounds' worth of stores and the Free State frontier within a +ride of them. Verily if we have something to deplore in this war we have +much also to be thankful for. + +Up to the end of October the situation was so dangerous that it is +really inexplicable that no advantage was taken of it by the enemy. Our +main force was concentrated to defend the Orange River railway bridge, +which was so essential for our advance upon Kimberley. This left only a +single regiment without guns for the defence of De Aar and the valuable +stores. A fairer mark for a dashing leader and a raid of mounted +riflemen was never seen. The chance passed, however, as so many others +of the Boers' had done. Early in November Colesberg and Naauwpoort were +abandoned by our small detachments, who concentrated at De Aar. The +Berkshires joined the Yorkshire Light Infantry, and nine field guns +arrived also. General Wood worked hard at the fortifying of the +surrounding kopjes, until within a week the place had been made +tolerably secure. + +The first collision between the opposing forces at this part of the seat +of war was upon November 10th, when Colonel Gough of the 9th Lancers +made a reconnaissance from Orange River to the north with two squadrons +of his own regiment, the mounted infantry of the Northumberland +Fusiliers, the Royal Munsters, and the North Lancashires, with a battery +of field artillery. To the east of Belmont, about fifteen miles off, +he came on a detachment of the enemy with a gun. To make out the Boer +position the mounted infantry galloped round one of their flanks, and in +doing so passed close to a kopje which was occupied by sharpshooters. +A deadly fire crackled suddenly out from among the boulders. Of six +men hit four were officers, showing how cool were the marksmen and how +dangerous those dress distinctions which will probably disappear +hence forwards upon the field of battle. Colonel Keith-Falconer of the +Northumberlands, who had earned distinction in the Soudan, was shot +dead. So was Wood of the North Lancashires. Hall and Bevan of the +Northumberlands were wounded. An advance by train of the troops in camp +drove back the Boers and extricated our small force from what might +have proved a serious position, for the enemy in superior numbers were +working round their wings. The troops returned to camp without any good +object having been attained, but that must be the necessary fate of many +a cavalry reconnaissance. + +On November 12th Lord Methuen arrived at Orange River and proceeded to +organise the column which was to advance to the relief of Kimberley. +General Methuen had had some previous South African experience when in +1885 he had commanded a large body of irregular horse in Bechuanaland. +His reputation was that of a gallant fearless soldier. He was not yet +fifty-five years of age. + +The force which gradually assembled at Orange River was formidable +rather from its quality than from its numbers. It included a brigade +of Guards (the 1st Scots Guards, 3rd Grenadiers, and 1st and 2nd +Coldstreams), the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, the 2nd Northamptons, +the 1st Northumberlands, and a wing of the North Lancashires whose +comrades were holding out at Kimberley, with a naval brigade of +seamen gunners and marines. For cavalry he had the 9th Lancers, with +detachments of mounted infantry, and for artillery the 75th and 18th +Batteries R.F.A. + +Extreme mobility was aimed at in the column, and neither tents nor +comforts of any sort were permitted to officers or men--no light matter +in a climate where a tropical day is followed by an arctic night. At +daybreak on November 22nd the force, numbering about eight thousand men, +set off upon its eventful journey. The distance to Kimberley was not +more than sixty miles, and it is probable that there was not one man in +the force who imagined how long that march would take or how grim the +experiences would be which awaited them on the way. At the dawn of +Wednesday, November 22nd, Lord Methuen moved forward until he came into +touch with the Boer position at Belmont. It was surveyed that evening +by Colonel Willoughby Verner, and every disposition made to attack it in +the morning. + +The force of the Boers was much inferior to our own, some two or three +thousand in all, but the natural strength of their position made it a +difficult one to carry, while it could not be left behind us as a menace +to our line of communications. A double row of steep hills lay across +the road to Kimberley, and it was along the ridges, snuggling closely +among the boulders, that our enemy was waiting for us. In their weeks +of preparation they had constructed elaborate shelter pits in which they +could lie in comparative safety while they swept all the level ground +around with their rifle fire. Mr. Ralph, the American correspondent, +whose letters were among the most vivid of the war, has described these +lairs, littered with straw and the debris of food, isolated from each +other, and each containing its grim and formidable occupant. 'The eyries +of birds of prey' is the phrase with which he brings them home to us. +In these, with nothing visible but their peering eyes and the barrels of +their rifles, the Boer marksmen crouched, and munched their biltong and +their mealies as the day broke upon the morning of the 23rd. With the +light their enemy was upon them. + +It was a soldiers' battle in the good old primeval British style, an +Alma on a small scale and against deadlier weapons. The troops advanced +in grim silence against the savage-looking, rock-sprinkled, crag-topped +position which confronted them. They were in a fierce humour, for they +had not breakfasted, and military history from Agincourt to Talavera +shows that want of food wakens a dangerous spirit among British troops. +A Northumberland Fusilier exploded into words which expressed the +gruffness of his comrades. As a too energetic staff officer pranced +before their line he roared in his rough North-country tongue, 'Domn +thee! Get thee to hell, and let's fire!' In the golden light of the +rising sun the men set their teeth and dashed up the hills, scrambling, +falling, cheering, swearing, gallant men, gallantly led, their one +thought to close with that grim bristle of rifle-barrels which fringed +the rocks above them. + +Lord Methuen's intention had been an attack from front and from flank, +but whether from the Grenadiers losing their bearings, or from the +mobility of the Boers, which made a flank attack an impossibility, it +is certain that all became frontal. The battle resolved itself into a +number of isolated actions in which the various kopjes were rushed by +different British regiments, always with success and always with loss. +The honours of the fight, as tested by the grim record of the casualty +returns, lay with the Grenadiers, the Coldstreams, the Northumberlands, +and the Scots Guards. The brave Guardsmen lay thickly on the slopes, but +their comrades crowned the heights. The Boers held on desperately and +fired their rifles in the very faces of the stormers. One young officer +had his jaw blown to pieces by a rifle which almost touched him. +Another, Blundell of the Guards, was shot dead by a wounded desperado +to whom he was offering his water-bottle. At one point a white flag was +waved by the defenders, on which the British left cover, only to be met +by a volley. It was there that Mr. E. F. Knight, of the 'Morning Post,' +became the victim of a double abuse of the usages of war, since his +wound, from which he lost his right arm, was from an explosive bullet. +The man who raised the flag was captured, and it says much for the +humanity of British soldiers that he was not bayoneted upon the spot. +Yet it is not fair to blame a whole people for the misdeeds of a few, +and it is probable that the men who descended to such devices, or who +deliberately fired upon our ambulances, were as much execrated by their +own comrades as by ourselves. + +The victory was an expensive one, for fifty killed and two hundred +wounded lay upon the hillside, and, like so many of our skirmishes with +the Boers, it led to small material results. Their losses appear to have +been much about the same as ours, and we captured some fifty prisoners, +whom the soldiers regarded with the utmost interest. They were a sullen +slouching crowd rudely clad, and they represented probably the poorest +of the burghers, who now, as in the middle ages, suffer most in battle, +since a long purse means a good horse. Most of the enemy galloped very +comfortably away after the action, leaving a fringe of sharpshooters +among the kopjes to hold back our pursuing cavalry. The want of horsemen +and the want of horse artillery are the two reasons which Lord Methuen +gives why the defeat was not converted into a rout. As it was, the +feelings of the retreating Boers were exemplified by one of their +number, who turned in his saddle in order to place his outstretched +fingers to his nose in derision of the victors. He exposed himself to +the fire of half a battalion while doing so, but he probably was +aware that with our present musketry instruction the fire of a British +half-battalion against an individual is not a very serious matter. + +The remainder of the 23rd was spent at Belmont Camp, and next morning +an advance was made to Enslin, some ten miles further on. Here lay the +plain of Enslin, bounded by a formidable line of kopjes as dangerous as +those of Belmont. Lancers and Rimington's Scouts, the feeble but very +capable cavalry of the Army, came in with the report that the hills were +strongly held. Some more hard slogging was in front of the relievers of +Kimberley. + +The advance had been on the line of the Cape Town to Kimberley Railway, +and the damage done to it by the Boers had been repaired to the extent +of permitting an armoured train with a naval gun to accompany the +troops. It was six o' clock upon the morning of Saturday the 25th that +this gun came into action against the kopjes, closely followed by the +guns of the field artillery. One of the lessons of the war has been to +disillusion us as to the effect of shrapnel fire. Positions which had +been made theoretically untenable have again and again been found to +be most inconveniently tenanted. Among the troops actually engaged the +confidence in the effect of shrapnel fire has steadily declined with +their experience. Some other method of artillery fire than the curving +bullet from an exploding shrapnel shell must be devised for dealing with +men who lie close among boulders and behind cover. + +These remarks upon shrapnel might be included in the account of half the +battles of the war, but they are particularly apposite to the action at +Enslin. Here a single large kopje formed the key to the position, and +a considerable time was expended upon preparing it for the British +assault, by directing upon it a fire which swept the face of it and +searched, as was hoped, every corner in which a rifleman might lurk. One +of the two batteries engaged fired no fewer than five hundred rounds. +Then the infantry advance was ordered, the Guards being held in +reserve on account of their exertions at Belmont. The Northumberlands, +Northamptons, North Lancashires, and Yorkshires worked round upon the +right, and, aided by the artillery fire, cleared the trenches in their +front. The honours of the assault, however, must be awarded to the +sailors and marines of the Naval Brigade, who underwent such an ordeal +as men have seldom faced and yet come out as victors. To them fell the +task of carrying that formidable hill which had been so scourged by our +artillery. With a grand rush they swept up the slope, but were met by +a horrible fire. Every rock spurted flame, and the front ranks withered +away before the storm of the Mauser. An eye-witness has recorded that +the brigade was hardly visible amid the sand knocked up by the bullets. +For an instant they fell back into cover, and then, having taken their +breath, up they went again, with a deep-chested sailor roar. There were +but four hundred in all, two hundred seamen and two hundred marines, and +the losses in that rapid rush were terrible. Yet they swarmed up, their +gallant officers, some of them little boy-middies, cheering them on. +Ethelston, the commander of the 'Powerful,' was struck down. Plumbe +and Senior of the Marines were killed. Captain Prothero of the 'Doris' +dropped while still yelling to his seamen to 'take that kopje and be +hanged to it!' Little Huddart, the middy, died a death which is worth +many inglorious years. Jones of the Marines fell wounded, but rose again +and rushed on with his men. It was on these gallant marines, the men who +are ready to fight anywhere and anyhow, moist or dry, that the heaviest +loss fell. When at last they made good their foothold upon the crest +of that murderous hill they had left behind them three officers and +eighty-eight men out of a total of 206--a loss within a few minutes of +nearly 50 per cent. The bluejackets, helped by the curve of the hill, +got off with a toll of eighteen of their number. Half the total British +losses of the action fell upon this little body of men, who upheld most +gloriously the honour and reputation of the service from which they were +drawn. With such men under the white ensign we leave our island homes in +safety behind us. + +The battle of Enslin had cost us some two hundred of killed and wounded, +and beyond the mere fact that we had cleared our way by another stage +towards Kimberley it is difficult to say what advantage we had from it. +We won the kopjes, but we lost our men. The Boer killed and wounded were +probably less than half of our own, and the exhaustion and weakness of +our cavalry forbade us to pursue and prevented us from capturing their +guns. In three days the men had fought two exhausting actions in a +waterless country and under a tropical sun. Their exertions had been +great and yet were barren of result. Why this should be so was naturally +the subject of keen discussion both in the camp and among the public +at home. It always came back to Lord Methuen's own complaint about the +absence of cavalry and of horse artillery. Many very unjust charges have +been hurled against our War Office--a department which in some matters +has done extraordinarily and unexpectedly well--but in this question of +the delay in the despatch of our cavalry and artillery, knowing as we +did the extreme mobility of our enemy, there is certainly ground for an +inquiry. + +The Boers who had fought these two actions had been drawn mainly from +the Jacobsdal and Fauresmith commandoes, with some of the burghers from +Boshof. The famous Cronje, however, had been descending from Mafeking +with his old guard of Transvaalers, and keen disappointment was +expressed by the prisoners at Belmont and at Enslin that he had not +arrived in time to take command of them. There were evidences, however, +at this latter action, that reinforcements for the enemy were coming up +and that the labours of the Kimberley relief force were by no means at +an end. In the height of the engagement the Lancer patrols thrown out +upon our right flank reported the approach of a considerable body of +Boer horsemen, who took up a position upon a hill on our right rear. +Their position there was distinctly menacing, and Colonel Willoughby +Verner was despatched by Lord Methuen to order up the brigade of Guards. +The gallant officer had the misfortune in his return to injure himself +seriously through a blunder of his horse. His mission, however, +succeeded in its effect, for the Guards moving across the plain +intervened in such a way that the reinforcements, without an open +attack, which would have been opposed to all Boer traditions, could not +help the defenders, and were compelled to witness their defeat. This +body of horsemen returned north next day and were no doubt among those +whom we encountered at the following action of the Modder River. + +The march from Orange River had begun on the Wednesday. On Thursday was +fought the action of Belmont, on Saturday that of Enslin. There was no +protection against the sun by day nor against the cold at night. Water +was not plentiful, and the quality of it was occasionally vile. The +troops were in need of a rest, so on Saturday night and Sunday they +remained at Enslin. On the Monday morning (November 27th) the weary +march to Kimberley was resumed. + +On Monday, November 27th, at early dawn, the little British army, a +dust-coloured column upon the dusty veld, moved forwards again towards +their objective. That night they halted at the pools of Klipfontein, +having for once made a whole day's march without coming in touch with +the enemy. Hopes rose that possibly the two successive defeats had taken +the heart out of them and that there would be no further resistance to +the advance. Some, however, who were aware of the presence of Cronje, +and of his formidable character, took a juster view of the situation. +And this perhaps is where a few words might be said about the celebrated +leader who played upon the western side of the seat of war the same part +which Joubert did upon the east. + +Commandant Cronje was at the time of the war sixty-five years of age, +a hard, swarthy man, quiet of manner, fierce of soul, with a reputation +among a nation of resolute men for unsurpassed resolution. His dark face +was bearded and virile, but sedate and gentle in expression. He spoke +little, but what he said was to the point, and he had the gift of those +fire-words which brace and strengthen weaker men. In hunting expeditions +and in native wars he had first won the admiration of his countrymen by +his courage and his fertility of resource. In the war of 1880 he had led +the Boers who besieged Potchefstroom, and he had pushed the attack with +a relentless vigour which was not hampered by the chivalrous usages of +war. Eventually he compelled the surrender of the place by concealing +from the garrison that a general armistice had been signed, an act which +was afterwards disowned by his own government. In the succeeding years +he lived as an autocrat and a patriarch amid his farms and his +herds, respected by many and feared by all. For a time he was Native +Commissioner and left a reputation for hard dealing behind him. Called +into the field again by the Jameson raid, he grimly herded his enemies +into an impossible position and desired, as it is stated, that the +hardest measure should be dealt out to the captives. This was the man, +capable, crafty, iron-hard, magnetic, who lay with a reinforced and +formidable army across the path of Lord Methuen's tired soldiers. It was +a fair match. On the one side the hardy men, the trained shots, a +good artillery, and the defensive; on the other the historical British +infantry, duty, discipline, and a fiery courage. With a high heart the +dust-coloured column moved on over the dusty veld. + +So entirely had hills and Boer fighting become associated in the minds +of our leaders, that when it was known that Modder River wound over a +plain, the idea of a resistance there appears to have passed away from +their minds. So great was the confidence or so lax the scouting that a +force equaling their own in numbers had assembled with many guns within +seven miles of them, and yet the advance appears to have been conducted +without any expectation of impending battle. The supposition, obvious +even to a civilian, that a river would be a likely place to meet with an +obstinate resistance, seems to have been ignored. It is perhaps not fair +to blame the General for a fact which must have vexed his spirit more +than ours--one's sympathies go out to the gentle and brave man, who +was heard calling out in his sleep that he 'should have had those two +guns'--but it is repugnant to common sense to suppose that no one, +neither the cavalry nor the Intelligence Department, is at fault for so +extraordinary a state of ignorance. [Footnote: Later information makes +it certain that the cavalry did report the presence of the enemy to Lord +Methuen.] On the morning of Tuesday, November 28th, the British troops +were told that they would march at once, and have their breakfast +when they reached the Modder River--a grim joke to those who lived to +appreciate it. + +The army had been reinforced the night before by the welcome addition of +the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, which made up for the losses of +the week. It was a cloudless morning, and a dazzling sun rose in a deep +blue sky. The men, though hungry, marched cheerily, the reek of their +tobacco-pipes floating up from their ranks. It cheered them to see that +the murderous kopjes had, for the time, been left behind, and that the +great plain inclined slightly downwards to where a line of green showed +the course of the river. On the further bank were a few scattered +buildings, with one considerable hotel, used as a week-end resort by the +businessmen of Kimberley. It lay now calm and innocent, with its open +windows looking out upon a smiling garden; but death lurked at the +windows and death in the garden, and the little dark man who stood by +the door, peering through his glass at the approaching column, was the +minister of death, the dangerous Cronje. In consultation with him +was one who was to prove even more formidable, and for a longer time. +Semitic in face, high-nosed, bushy-bearded, and eagle-eyed, with skin +burned brown by a life of the veld--it was De la Rey, one of the trio +of fighting chiefs whose name will always be associated with the gallant +resistance of the Boers. He was there as adviser, but Cronje was in +supreme command. + +His dispositions had been both masterly and original. Contrary to the +usual military practice in the defence of rivers, he had concealed +his men upon both banks, placing, as it is stated, those in whose +staunchness he had least confidence upon the British side of the river, +so that they could only retreat under the rifles of their inexorable +companions. The trenches had been so dug with such a regard for the +slopes of the ground that in some places a triple line of fire was +secured. His artillery, consisting of several heavy pieces and a +number of machine guns (including one of the diabolical 'pompoms'), was +cleverly placed upon the further side of the stream, and was not only +provided with shelter pits but had rows of reserve pits, so that the +guns could be readily shifted when their range was found. Rows of +trenches, a broadish river, fresh rows of trenches, fortified houses, +and a good artillery well worked and well placed, it was a serious +task which lay in front of the gallant little army. The whole position +covered between four and five miles. + +An obvious question must here occur to the mind of every non-military +reader--Why should this position be attacked at all? Why should we not +cross higher up where there were no such formidable obstacles?' The +answer, so far as one can answer it, must be that so little was known +of the dispositions of our enemy that we were hopelessly involved in +the action before we knew of it, and that then it was more dangerous to +extricate the army than to push the attack. A retirement over that open +plain at a range of under a thousand yards would have been a dangerous +and disastrous movement. Having once got there, it was wisest and best +to see it through. + +The dark Cronje still waited reflective in the hotel garden. Across the +veld streamed the lines of infantry, the poor fellows eager, after seven +miles of that upland air, for the breakfast which had been promised +them. It was a quarter to seven when our patrols of Lancers were fired +upon. There were Boers, then, between them and their meal! The artillery +was ordered up, the Guards were sent forward on the right, the 9th +Brigade under Pole-Carew on the left, including the newly arrived Argyll +and Sutherland Highlanders. They swept onwards into the fatal fire +zone--and then, and only then, there blazed out upon them four miles +of rifles, cannon, and machine guns, and they realised, from general to +private, that they had walked unwittingly into the fiercest battle yet +fought in the war. + +Before the position was understood the Guards were within seven hundred +yards of the Boer trenches, and the other troops about nine hundred, on +the side of a very gentle slope which made it most difficult to find any +cover. In front of them lay a serene landscape, the river, the houses, +the hotel, no movement of men, no smoke--everything peaceful and +deserted save for an occasional quick flash and sparkle of flame. But +the noise was horrible and appalling. Men whose nerves had been steeled +to the crash of the big guns, or the monotonous roar of Maxims and +the rattle of Mauser fire, found a new terror in the malignant +'ploop-plooping' of the automatic quick-firer. The Maxim of the Scots +Guards was caught in the hell-blizzard from this thing--each shell no +bigger than a large walnut, but flying in strings of a score--and men +and gun were destroyed in an instant. As to the rifle bullets the air +was humming and throbbing with them, and the sand was mottled like a +pond in a shower. To advance was impossible, to retire was hateful. The +men fell upon their faces and huddled close to the earth, too happy if +some friendly ant-heap gave them a precarious shelter. And always, tier +above tier, the lines of rifle fire rippled and palpitated in front of +them. The infantry fired also, and fired, and fired--but what was there +to fire at? An occasional eye and hand over the edge of a trench +or behind a stone is no mark at seven hundred yards. It would be +instructive to know how many British bullets found a billet that day. + +The cavalry was useless, the infantry was powerless--there only remained +the guns. When any arm is helpless and harried it always casts an +imploring eye upon the guns, and rarely indeed is it that the gallant +guns do not respond. Now the 75th and 18th Field Batteries came rattling +and dashing to the front, and unlimbered at one thousand yards. The +naval guns were working at four thousand, but the two combined were +insufficient to master the fire of the pieces of large calibre which +were opposed to them. Lord Methuen must have prayed for guns as +Wellington did for night, and never was a prayer answered more +dramatically. A strange battery came lurching up from the British rear, +unheralded, unknown, the weary gasping horses panting at the traces, +the men, caked with sweat and dirt, urging them on into a last spasmodic +trot. The bodies of horses which had died of pure fatigue marked their +course, the sergeants' horses tugged in the gun-teams, and the sergeants +staggered along by the limbers. It was the 62nd Field Battery, which had +marched thirty-two miles in eight hours, and now, hearing the crash +of battle in front of them, had with one last desperate effort thrown +itself into the firing line. Great credit is due to Major Granet and his +men. Not even those gallant German batteries who saved the infantry at +Spicheren could boast of a finer feat. + +Now it was guns against guns, and let the best gunners win! We had +eighteen field-guns and the naval pieces against the concealed cannon of +the enemy. Back and forward flew the shells, howling past each other +in mid-air. The weary men of the 62nd Battery forgot their labours +and fatigues as they stooped and strained at their clay-coloured +15-pounders. Half of them were within rifle range, and the limber horses +were the centre of a hot fire, as they were destined to be at a shorter +range and with more disastrous effect at the Tugela. That the same +tactics should have been adopted at two widely sundered points shows +with what care the details of the war had been pre-arranged by the Boer +leaders. 'Before I got my horses out,' says an officer, 'they shot one +of my drivers and two horses and brought down my own horse. When we got +the gun round one of the gunners was shot through the brain and fell at +my feet. Another was shot while bringing up shell. Then we got a look +in.' The roar of the cannon was deafening, but gradually the British +were gaining the upper hand. Here and there the little knolls upon the +further side which had erupted into constant flame lay cold and silent. +One of the heavier guns was put out of action, and the other had been +withdrawn for five hundred yards. But the infantry fire still crackled +and rippled along the trenches, and the guns could come no nearer +with living men and horses. It was long past midday, and that unhappy +breakfast seemed further off than ever. + +As the afternoon wore on, a curious condition of things was established. +The guns could not advance, and, indeed, it was found necessary to +withdraw them from a 1200 to a 2800-yard range, so heavy were the +losses. At the time of the change the 75th Battery had lost three +officers out of five, nineteen men, and twenty-two horses. The infantry +could not advance and would not retire. The Guards on the right were +prevented from opening out on the flank and getting round the enemy's +line, by the presence of the Riet River, which joins the Modder almost +at a right angle. All day they lay under a blistering sun, the sleet +of bullets whizzing over their heads. 'It came in solid streaks like +telegraph wires,' said a graphic correspondent. The men gossiped, +smoked, and many of them slept. They lay on the barrels of their rifles +to keep them cool enough for use. Now and again there came the dull thud +of a bullet which had found its mark, and a man gasped, or drummed with +his feet; but the casualties at this point were not numerous, for there +was some little cover, and the piping bullets passed for the most part +overhead. + +But in the meantime there had been a development upon the left which was +to turn the action into a British victory. At this side there was ample +room to extend, and the 9th Brigade spread out, feeling its way down the +enemy's line, until it came to a point where the fire was less murderous +and the approach to the river more in favour of the attack. Here +the Yorkshires, a party of whom under Lieutenant Fox had stormed a +farmhouse, obtained the command of a drift, over which a mixed force of +Highlanders and Fusiliers forced their way, led by their Brigadier in +person. This body of infantry, which does not appear to have exceeded +five hundred in number, were assailed both by the Boer riflemen and by +the guns of both parties, our own gunners being unaware that the Modder +had been successfully crossed. A small hamlet called Rosmead formed, +however, a point d'appui, and to this the infantry clung tenaciously, +while reinforcements dribbled across to them from the farther side. +'Now, boys, who's for otter hunting?' cried Major Coleridge, of the +North Lancashires, as he sprang into the water. How gladly on that +baking, scorching day did the men jump into the river and splash over, +to climb the opposite bank with their wet khaki clinging to their +figures! Some blundered into holes and were rescued by grasping the +unwound putties of their comrades. And so between three and four o'clock +a strong party of the British had established their position upon the +right flank of the Boers, and were holding on like grim death with an +intelligent appreciation that the fortunes of the day depended upon +their retaining their grip. + +'Hollo, here is a river!' cried Codrington when he led his forlorn hope +to the right and found that the Riet had to be crossed. 'I was given to +understand that the Modder was fordable everywhere,' says Lord Methuen +in his official despatch. One cannot read the account of the operations +without being struck by the casual, sketchy knowledge which cost us so +dearly. The soldiers slogged their way through, as they have slogged it +before; but the task might have been made much lighter for them had we +but clearly known what it was that we were trying to do. On the other +hand, it is but fair to Lord Methuen to say that his own personal +gallantry and unflinching resolution set the most stimulating example to +his troops. No General could have done more to put heart into his men. + +And now, as the long weary scorching hungry day came to an end, the +Boers began at last to flinch from their trenches. The shrapnel was +finding them out and this force upon their flank filled them with vague +alarm and with fears for their precious guns. And so as night fell +they stole across the river, the cannon were withdrawn, the trenches +evacuated, and next morning, when the weary British and their anxious +General turned themselves to their grim task once more, they found a +deserted village, a line of empty houses, and a litter of empty Mauser +cartridge-cases to show where their tenacious enemy had stood. + +Lord Methuen, in congratulating the troops upon their achievement, spoke +of 'the hardest-won victory in our annals of war,' and some such phrase +was used in his official despatch. It is hypercritical, no doubt, to +look too closely at a term used by a wounded man with the flush of +battle still upon him, but still a student of military history must +smile at such a comparison between this action and such others as +Albuera or Inkerman, where the numbers of British engaged were not +dissimilar. A fight in which five hundred men are killed and wounded +cannot be classed in the same category as those stern and desperate +encounters where more of the victors were carried than walked from the +field of battle. And yet there were some special features which will +differentiate the fight at Modder River from any of the hundred actions +which adorn the standards of our regiments. It was the third battle +which the troops had fought within the week, they were under fire for +ten or twelve hours, were waterless under a tropical sun, and weak from +want of food. For the first time they were called upon to face modern +rifle fire and modern machine guns in the open. The result tends to +prove that those who hold that it will from now onwards be impossible +ever to make such frontal attacks as those which the English made at +the Alma or the French at Waterloo, are justified in their belief. It +is beyond human hardihood to face the pitiless beat of bullet and shell +which comes from modern quick-firing weapons. Had our flank not made a +lodgment across the river, it is impossible that we could have carried +the position. Once more, too, it was demonstrated how powerless the best +artillery is to disperse resolute and well-placed riflemen. Of the minor +points of interest there will always remain the record of the forced +march of the 62nd Battery, and artillerymen will note the use of +gun-pits by the Boers, which ensured that the range of their positions +should never be permanently obtained. + +The honours of the day upon the side of the British rested with the +Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Yorkshire Light Infantry, the 2nd +Coldstreams, and the artillery. Out of a total casualty list of about +450, no fewer than 112 came from the gallant Argylls and 69 from the +Coldstreams. The loss of the Boers is exceedingly difficult to gauge, as +they throughout the war took the utmost pains to conceal it. The number +of desperate and long-drawn actions which have ended, according to the +official Pretorian account, in a loss of one wounded burgher may in some +way be better policy, but does not imply a higher standard of public +virtue, than those long lists which have saddened our hearts in the +halls of the War Office. What is certain is that the loss at Modder +River could not have been far inferior to our own, and that it arose +almost entirely from artillery fire, since at no time of the action +were any large number of their riflemen visible. So it ended, this long +pelting match, Cronje sullenly withdrawing under the cover of darkness +with his resolute heart filled with fierce determination for the future, +while the British soldiers threw themselves down on the ground which +they occupied and slept the sleep of exhaustion. + + + +CHAPTER 9. BATTLE OF MAGERSFONTEIN. + +Lord Methuen's force had now fought three actions in the space of a +single week, losing in killed and wounded about a thousand men, or +rather more than one-tenth of its total numbers. Had there been evidence +that the enemy were seriously demoralised, the General would no doubt +have pushed on at once to Kimberley, which was some twenty miles +distant. The information which reached him was, however, that the Boers +had fallen back upon the very strong position of Spytfontein, that they +were full of fight, and that they had been strongly reinforced by a +commando from Mafeking. Under these circumstances Lord Methuen had +no choice but to give his men a well-earned rest, and to await +reinforcements. There was no use in reaching Kimberley unless he had +completely defeated the investing force. With the history of the first +relief of Lucknow in his memory he was on his guard against a repetition +of such an experience. + +It was the more necessary that Methuen should strengthen his position, +since with every mile which he advanced the more exposed did his line +of communications become to a raid from Fauresmith and the southern +districts of the Orange Free State. Any serious danger to the railway +behind them would leave the British Army in a very critical position, +and precautions were taken for the protection of the more vulnerable +portions of the line. It was well that this was so, for on the 8th of +December Commandant Prinsloo, of the Orange Free State, with a thousand +horsemen and two light seven-pounder guns, appeared suddenly at Enslin +and vigorously attacked the two companies of the Northampton Regiment +who held the station. At the same time they destroyed a couple of +culverts and tore up three hundred yards of the permanent way. For some +hours the Northamptons under Captain Godley were closely pressed, but a +telegram had been despatched to Modder Camp, and the 12th Lancers with +the ubiquitous 62nd Battery were sent to their assistance. The Boers +retired with their usual mobility, and in ten hours the line was +completely restored. + +Reinforcements were now reaching the Modder River force, which made it +more formidable than when it had started. A very essential addition +was that of the 12th Lancers and of G battery of Horse Artillery, which +would increase the mobility of the force and make it possible for the +General to follow up a blow after he had struck it. The magnificent +regiments which formed the Highland Brigade--the 2nd Black Watch, the +1st Gordons, the 2nd Seaforths, and the 1st Highland Light Infantry +had arrived under the gallant and ill-fated Wauchope. Four five-inch +howitzers had also come to strengthen the artillery. At the same time +the Canadians, the Australians, and several line regiments were moved +up on the line from De Aar to Belmont. It appeared to the public at +home that there was the material for an overwhelming advance; but the +ordinary observer, and even perhaps the military critic, had not yet +appreciated how great is the advantage which is given by modern weapons +to the force which acts upon the defensive. With enormous pains Cronje +and De la Rey were entrenching a most formidable position in front of +our advance, with a confidence, which proved to be justified that it +would be on their own ground and under their own conditions that in +this, as in the three preceding actions, we should engage them. + +On the morning of Saturday, December 9th, the British General made an +attempt to find out what lay in front of him amid that semicircle of +forbidding hills. To this end he sent out a reconnaissance in the early +morning, which included G Battery Horse Artillery, the 9th Lancers, and +the ponderous 4.7 naval gun, which, preceded by the majestic march +of thirty-two bullocks and attended by eighty seamen gunners, creaked +forwards over the plain. What was there to shoot at in those sunlit +boulder-strewn hills in front? They lay silent and untenanted in the +glare of the African day. In vain the great gun exploded its huge shell +with its fifty pounds of lyddite over the ridges, in vain the smaller +pieces searched every cleft and hollow with their shrapnel. No answer +came from the far-stretching hills. Not a flash or twinkle betrayed the +fierce bands who lurked among the boulders. The force returned to camp +no wiser than when it left. + +There was one sight visible every night to all men which might well +nerve the rescuers in their enterprise. Over the northern horizon, +behind those hills of danger, there quivered up in the darkness one +long, flashing, quivering beam, which swung up and down, and up +again like a seraphic sword-blade. It was Kimberley praying for help, +Kimberley solicitous for news. Anxiously, distractedly, the great De +Beers searchlight dipped and rose. And back across the twenty miles +of darkness, over the hills where Cronje lurked, there came that other +southern column of light which answered, and promised, and soothed. 'Be +of good heart, Kimberley. We are here! The Empire is behind us. We have +not forgotten you. It may be days, or it may be weeks, but rest assured +that we are coming.' + +About three in the afternoon of Sunday, December 10th, the force +which was intended to clear a path for the army through the lines of +Magersfontein moved out upon what proved to be its desperate enterprise. +The 3rd or Highland Brigade included the Black Watch, the Seaforths, the +Argyll and Sutherlands, and the Highland Light Infantry. The Gordons had +only arrived in camp that day, and did not advance until next morning. +Besides the infantry, the 9th Lancers, the mounted infantry, and all the +artillery moved to the front. It was raining hard, and the men with one +blanket between two soldiers bivouacked upon the cold damp ground, about +three miles from the enemy's position. At one o'clock, without food, and +drenched, they moved forwards through the drizzle and the darkness to +attack those terrible lines. Major Benson, R.A., with two of Rimington's +scouts, led them on their difficult way. + +Clouds drifted low in the heavens, and the falling rain made the +darkness more impenetrable. The Highland Brigade was formed into a +column--the Black Watch in front, then the Seaforths, and the other +two behind. To prevent the men from straggling in the night the four +regiments were packed into a mass of quarter column as densely as was +possible, and the left guides held a rope in order to preserve the +formation. With many a trip and stumble the ill-fated detachment +wandered on, uncertain where they were going and what it was that +they were meant to do. Not only among the rank and file, but among +the principal officers also, there was the same absolute ignorance. +Brigadier Wauchope knew, no doubt, but his voice was soon to be stilled +in death. The others were aware, of course, that they were advancing +either to turn the enemy's trenches or to attack them, but they may well +have argued from their own formation that they could not be near the +riflemen yet. Why they should be still advancing in that dense clump we +do not now know, nor can we surmise what thoughts were passing through +the mind of the gallant and experienced chieftain who walked beside +them. There are some who claim on the night before to have seen upon his +strangely ascetic face that shadow of doom which is summed up in the one +word 'fey.' The hand of coming death may already have lain cold upon his +soul. Out there, close beside him, stretched the long trench, fringed +with its line of fierce, staring, eager faces, and its bristle of +gun-barrels. They knew he was coming. They were ready. They were +waiting. But still, with the dull murmur of many feet, the dense column, +nearly four thousand strong, wandered onwards through the rain and the +darkness, death and mutilation crouching upon their path. + +It matters not what gave the signal, whether it was the flashing of a +lantern by a Boer scout, or the tripping of a soldier over wire, or the +firing of a gun in the ranks. It may have been any, or it may have been +none, of these things. As a matter of fact I have been assured by a Boer +who was present that it was the sound of the tins attached to the alarm +wires which disturbed them. However this may be, in an instant there +crashed out of the darkness into their faces and ears a roar of +point-blank fire, and the night was slashed across with the throbbing +flame of the rifles. At the moment before this outflame some doubt as +to their whereabouts seems to have flashed across the mind of their +leaders. The order to extend had just been given, but the men had not +had time to act upon it. The storm of lead burst upon the head and right +flank of the column, which broke to pieces under the murderous volley. +Wauchope was shot, struggled up, and fell once more for ever. Rumour +has placed words of reproach upon his dying lips, but his nature, both +gentle and soldierly, forbids the supposition. 'What a pity!' was the +only utterance which a brother Highlander ascribes to him. Men went +down in swathes, and a howl of rage and agony, heard afar over the veld, +swelled up from the frantic and struggling crowd. By the hundred they +dropped--some dead, some wounded, some knocked down by the rush and sway +of the broken ranks. It was a horrible business. At such a range and in +such a formation a single Mauser bullet may well pass through many men. +A few dashed forwards, and were found dead at the very edges of the +trench. The few survivors of companies A, B, and C of the Black Watch +appear to have never actually retired, but to have clung on to the +immediate front of the Boer trenches, while the remains of the other +five companies tried to turn the Boer flank. Of the former body only six +got away unhurt in the evening after lying all day within two hundred +yards of the enemy. The rest of the brigade broke and, disentangling +themselves with difficulty from the dead and the dying, fled back out of +that accursed place. Some, the most unfortunate of all, became caught in +the darkness in the wire defences, and were found in the morning hung up +'like crows,' as one spectator describes it, and riddled with bullets. + +Who shall blame the Highlanders for retiring when they did? Viewed, not +by desperate and surprised men, but in all calmness and sanity, it may +well seem to have been the very best thing which they could do. Dashed +into chaos, separated from their officers, with no one who knew what +was to be done, the first necessity was to gain shelter from this deadly +fire, which had already stretched six hundred of their number upon the +ground. The danger was that men so shaken would be stricken with panic, +scatter in the darkness over the face of the country, and cease to exist +as a military unit. But the Highlanders were true to their character +and their traditions. There was shouting in the darkness, hoarse voices +calling for the Seaforths, for the Argylls, for Company C, for Company +H, and everywhere in the gloom there came the answer of the clansmen. +Within half an hour with the break of day the Highland regiments had +re-formed, and, shattered and weakened, but undaunted, prepared to renew +the contest. Some attempt at an advance was made upon the right, ebbing +and flowing, one little band even reaching the trenches and coming back +with prisoners and reddened bayonets. For the most part the men lay upon +their faces, and fired when they could at the enemy; but the cover which +the latter kept was so excellent that an officer who expended 120 rounds +has left it upon record that he never once had seen anything positive at +which to aim. Lieutenant Lindsay brought the Seaforths' Maxim into the +firing-line, and, though all her crew except two were hit, it continued +to do good service during the day. The Lancers' Maxim was equally +staunch, though it also was left finally with only the lieutenant in +charge and one trooper to work it. + +Fortunately the guns were at hand, and, as usual, they were quick to +come to the aid of the distressed. The sun was hardly up before the +howitzers were throwing lyddite at 4000 yards, the three field batteries +(18th, 62nd, 75th) were working with shrapnel at a mile, and the troop +of Horse Artillery was up at the right front trying to enfilade the +trenches. The guns kept down the rifle-fire, and gave the wearied +Highlanders some respite from their troubles. The whole situation had +resolved itself now into another Battle of Modder River. The infantry, +under a fire at from six hundred to eight hundred paces, could not +advance and would not retire. The artillery only kept the battle going, +and the huge naval gun from behind was joining with its deep bark in the +deafening uproar. But the Boers had already learned--and it is one +of their most valuable military qualities that they assimilate their +experience so quickly--that shell fire is less dangerous in a trench +than among rocks. These trenches, very elaborate in character, had been +dug some hundreds of yards from the foot of the hills, so that there was +hardly any guide to our artillery fire. Yet it is to the artillery fire +that all the losses of the Boers that day were due. The cleverness of +Cronje's disposition of his trenches some hundred yards ahead of the +kopjes is accentuated by the fascination which any rising object has for +a gunner. Prince Kraft tells the story of how at Sadowa he unlimbered +his guns two hundred yards in front of the church of Chlum, and how the +Austrian reply fire almost invariably pitched upon the steeple. So our +own gunners, even at a two thousand-yard mark, found it difficult to +avoid overshooting the invisible line, and hitting the obvious mark +behind. + +As the day wore on reinforcements of infantry came up from the force +which had been left to guard the camp. The Gordons arrived with the +first and second battalions of the Coldstream Guards, and all the +artillery was moved nearer to the enemy's position. At the same time, +as there were some indications of an attack upon our right flank, the +Grenadier Guards with five companies of the Yorkshire Light Infantry +were moved up in that direction, while the three remaining companies of +Barter's Yorkshiremen secured a drift over which the enemy might cross +the Modder. This threatening movement upon our right flank, which would +have put the Highlanders into an impossible position had it succeeded, +was most gallantly held back all morning, before the arrival of the +Guards and the Yorkshires, by the mounted infantry and the 12th Lancers, +skirmishing on foot. It was in this long and successful struggle to +cover the flank of the 3rd Brigade that Major Milton, Major Ray, and +many another brave man met his end. The Coldstreams and Grenadiers +relieved the pressure upon this side, and the Lancers retired to their +horses, having shown, not for the first time, that the cavalryman with +a modern carbine can at a pinch very quickly turn himself into a useful +infantry soldier. Lord Airlie deserves all praise for his unconventional +use of his men, and for the gallantry with which he threw both himself +and them into the most critical corner of the fight. + +While the Coldstreams, the Grenadiers, and the Yorkshire Light Infantry +were holding back the Boer attack upon our right flank the indomitable +Gordons, the men of Dargai, furious with the desire to avenge their +comrades of the Highland Brigade, had advanced straight against the +trenches and succeeded without any very great loss in getting within +four hundred yards of them. But a single regiment could not carry the +position, and anything like a general advance upon it was out of the +question in broad daylight after the punishment which we had received. +Any plans of the sort which may have passed through Lord Methuen's +mind were driven away for ever by the sudden unordered retreat of the +stricken brigade. They had been very roughly handled in this, which was +to most of them their baptism of fire, and they had been without food +and water under a burning sun all day. They fell back rapidly for a +mile, and the guns were for a time left partially exposed. Fortunately +the lack of initiative on the part of the Boers which has stood our +friend so often came in to save us from disaster and humiliation. It is +due to the brave unshaken face which the Guards presented to the enemy +that our repulse did not deepen into something still more serious. + +The Gordons and the Scots Guards were still in attendance upon the guns, +but they had been advanced very close to the enemy's trenches, and +there were no other troops in support. Under these circumstances it was +imperative that the Highlanders should rally, and Major Ewart with other +surviving officers rushed among the scattered ranks and strove hard +to gather and to stiffen them. The men were dazed by what they had +undergone, and Nature shrank back from that deadly zone where the +bullets fell so thickly. But the pipes blew, and the bugles sang, and +the poor tired fellows, the backs of their legs so flayed and blistered +by lying in the sun that they could hardly bend them, hobbled back to +their duty. They worked up to the guns once more, and the moment of +danger passed. + +But as the evening wore on it became evident that no attack could +succeed, and that therefore there was no use in holding the men in front +of the enemy's position. The dark Cronje, lurking among his ditches and +his barbed wire, was not to be approached, far less defeated. There are +some who think that, had we held on there as we did at the Modder River, +the enemy would again have been accommodating enough to make way for +us during the night, and the morning would have found the road clear to +Kimberley. I know no grounds for such an opinion--but several against +it. At Modder Cronje abandoned his lines, knowing that he had other and +stronger ones behind him. At Magersfontein a level plain lay behind the +Boer position, and to abandon it was to give up the game altogether. +Besides, why should he abandon it? He knew that he had hit us hard. We +had made absolutely no impression upon his defences. Is it likely that +he would have tamely given up all his advantages and surrendered the +fruits of his victory without a struggle? It is enough to mourn a defeat +without the additional agony of thinking that a little more perseverance +might have turned it into a victory. The Boer position could only be +taken by outflanking it, and we were not numerous enough nor mobile +enough to outflank it. There lay the whole secret of our troubles, and +no conjectures as to what might under other circumstances have happened +can alter it. + +About half-past five the Boer guns, which had for some unexplained +reason been silent all day, opened upon the cavalry. Their appearance +was a signal for the general falling back of the centre, and the +last attempt to retrieve the day was abandoned. The Highlanders were +dead-beat; the Coldstreams had had enough; the mounted infantry was +badly mauled. There remained the Grenadiers, the Scots Guards, and two +or three line regiments who were available for a new attack. There are +occasions, such as Sadowa, where a General must play his last card. +There are others where with reinforcements in his rear, he can do better +by saving his force and trying once again. General Grant had an axiom +that the best time for an advance was when you were utterly exhausted, +for that was the moment when your enemy was probably utterly exhausted +too, and of two such forces the attacker has the moral advantage. Lord +Methuen determined--and no doubt wisely--that it was no occasion for +counsels of desperation. His men were withdrawn--in some cases withdrew +themselves--outside the range of the Boer guns, and next morning saw the +whole force with bitter and humiliated hearts on their way back to their +camp at Modder River. + +The repulse of Magersfontein cost the British nearly a thousand men, +killed, wounded, and missing, of which over seven hundred belonged to +the Highlanders. Fifty-seven officers had fallen in that brigade alone, +including their Brigadier and Colonel Downman of the Gordons. Colonel +Codrington of the Coldstreams was wounded early, fought through the +action, and came back in the evening on a Maxim gun. Lord Winchester +of the same battalion was killed, after injudiciously but heroically +exposing himself all day. The Black Watch alone had lost nineteen +officers and over three hundred men killed and wounded, a catastrophe +which can only be matched in all the bloody and glorious annals of that +splendid regiment by their slaughter at Ticonderoga in 1757, when +no fewer than five hundred fell before Montcalm's muskets. Never has +Scotland had a more grievous day than this of Magersfontein. She has +always given her best blood with lavish generosity for the Empire, but +it may be doubted if any single battle has ever put so many families of +high and low into mourning from the Tweed to the Caithness shore. There +is a legend that when sorrow comes upon Scotland the old Edinburgh +Castle is lit by ghostly lights and gleams white at every window in +the mirk of midnight. If ever the watcher could have seen so sinister +a sight, it should have been on this, the fatal night of December +11, 1899. As to the Boer loss it is impossible to determine it. Their +official returns stated it to be seventy killed and two hundred and +fifty wounded, but the reports of prisoners and deserters placed it at a +very much higher figure. One unit, the Scandinavian corps, was placed +in an advanced position at Spytfontein, and was overwhelmed by the +Seaforths, who killed, wounded, or took the eighty men of whom it was +composed. The stories of prisoners and of deserters all speak of losses +very much higher than those which have been officially acknowledged. + +In his comments upon the battle next day Lord Methuen was said to have +given offence to the Highland Brigade, and the report was allowed to go +uncontradicted until it became generally accepted. It arose, however, +from a complete misunderstanding of the purport of Lord Methuen's +remarks, in which he praised them, as he well might, for their bravery, +and condoled with them over the wreck of their splendid regiments. +The way in which officers and men hung on under conditions to which no +troops have ever been exposed was worthy of the highest traditions of +the British army. From the death of Wauchope in the early morning, until +the assumption of the command of the brigade by Hughes-Hallett in the +late afternoon, no one seems to have taken the direction. 'My lieutenant +was wounded and my captain was killed,' says a private. 'The General was +dead, but we stayed where we were, for there was no order to retire.' +That was the story of the whole brigade, until the flanking movement of +the Boers compelled them to fall back. + +The most striking lesson of the engagement is the extreme bloodiness +of modern warfare under some conditions, and its bloodlessness under +others. Here, out of a total of something under a thousand casualties +seven hundred were incurred in about five minutes, and the whole day of +shell, machine-gun, and rifle fire only furnished the odd three hundred. +So also at Ladysmith the British forces (White's column) were under +heavy fire from 5.30 to 11.30, and the loss again was something under +three hundred. With conservative generalship the losses of the battles +of the future will be much less than those of the past, and as a +consequence the battles themselves will last much longer, and it will be +the most enduring rather than the most fiery which will win. The supply +of food and water to the combatants will become of extreme importance to +keep them up during the prolonged trials of endurance, which will last +for weeks rather than days. On the other hand, when a General's force is +badly compromised, it will be so punished that a quick surrender will be +the only alternative to annihilation. + +On the subject of the quarter-column formation which proved so fatal +to us, it must be remembered that any other form of advance is hardly +possible during a night attack, though at Tel-el-Kebir the exceptional +circumstance of the march being over an open desert allowed the troops +to move for the last mile or two in a more extended formation. A line +of battalion double-company columns is most difficult to preserve in the +darkness, and any confusion may lead to disaster. The whole mistake +lay in a miscalculation of a few hundred yards in the position of the +trenches. Had the regiments deployed five minutes earlier it is probable +(though by no means certain) that the position would have been carried. + +The action was not without those examples of military virtue which +soften a disaster, and hold out a brighter promise for the future. The +Guards withdrew from the field as if on parade, with the Boer shells +bursting over their ranks. Fine, too, was the restraint of G Battery +of Horse Artillery on the morning after the battle. An armistice was +understood to exist, but the naval gun, in ignorance of it, opened +on our extreme left. The Boers at once opened fire upon the Horse +Artillery, who, recognising the mistake, remained motionless and +unlimbered in a line, with every horse, and gunner and driver in his +place, without taking any notice of the fire, which presently slackened +and stopped as the enemy came to understand the situation. It is worthy +of remark that in this battle the three field batteries engaged, as well +as G Battery, R.H.A., each fired over 1000 rounds and remained for 30 +consecutive hours within 1500 yards of the Boer position. + +But of all the corps who deserve praise, there was none more gallant +than the brave surgeons and ambulance bearers, who encounter all the +dangers and enjoy none of the thrills of warfare. All day under fire +these men worked and toiled among the wounded. Beevor, Ensor, Douglas, +Probyn--all were equally devoted. It is almost incredible, and yet it +is true, that by ten o'clock on the morning after the battle, before the +troops had returned to camp, no fewer than five hundred wounded were in +the train and on their way to Cape Town. + + + +CHAPTER 10. THE BATTLE OF STORMBERG. + +Some attempt has now been made to sketch the succession of events which +had ended in the investment of Ladysmith in northern Natal, and also to +show the fortunes of the force which on the western side of the seat +of war attempted to advance to the relief of Kimberley. The distance +between these forces may be expressed in terms familiar to the European +reader by saying that it was that which separates Paris from Frankfort, +or to the American by suggesting that Ladysmith was at Boston and that +Methuen was trying to relieve Philadelphia. Waterless deserts and rugged +mountain ranges divided the two scenes of action. In the case of the +British there could be no connection between the two movements, but the +Boers by a land journey of something over a hundred miles had a double +choice of a route by which Cronje and Joubert might join hands, either +by the Bloemfontein-Johannesburg-Laing's Nek Railway, or by the direct +line from Harrismith to Ladysmith. The possession of these internal +lines should have been of enormous benefit to the Boers, enabling them +to throw the weight of their forces unexpectedly from the one flank to +the other. + +In a future chapter it will be recorded how the Army Corps arriving from +England was largely diverted into Natal in order in the first instance +to prevent the colony from being overrun, and in the second to rescue +the beleaguered garrison. In the meantime it is necessary to deal with +the military operations in the broad space between the eastern and +western armies. + +After the declaration of war there was a period of some weeks during +which the position of the British over the whole of the northern part of +Cape Colony was full of danger. Immense supplies had been gathered at De +Aar which were at the mercy of a Free State raid, and the burghers, had +they possessed a cavalry leader with the dash of a Stuart or a Sheridan, +might have dealt a blow which would have cost us a million pounds' worth +of stores and dislocated the whole plan of campaign. However, the chance +was allowed to pass, and when, on November 1st, the burghers at last in +a leisurely fashion sauntered over the frontier, arrangements had been +made by reinforcement and by concentration to guard the vital points. +The objects of the British leaders, until the time for a general advance +should come, were to hold the Orange River Bridge (which opened the +way to Kimberley), to cover De Aar Junction, where the stores were, to +protect at all costs the line of railway which led from Cape Town to +Kimberley, and to hold on to as much as possible of those other two +lines of railway which led, the one through Colesberg and the other +through Stormberg, into the Free State. The two bodies of invaders who +entered the colony moved along the line of these two railways, the one +crossing the Orange River at Norval's Pont and the other at Bethulie. +They enlisted many recruits among the Cape Colony Dutch as they +advanced, and the scanty British forces fell back in front of them, +abandoning Colesberg on the one line and Stormberg on the other. We +have, then, to deal with the movements of two British detachments. The +one which operated on the Colesberg line--which was the more vital +of the two, as a rapid advance of the Boers upon that line would have +threatened the precious Cape Town to Kimberley connection--consisted +almost entirely of mounted troops, and was under the command of the +same General French who had won the battle of Elandslaagte. By an act of +foresight which was only too rare upon the British side in the earlier +stages of this war, French, who had in the recent large manoeuvres on +Salisbury Plain shown great ability as a cavalry leader, was sent out +of Ladysmith in the very last train which made its way through. His +operations, with his instructive use of cavalry and horse artillery, may +be treated separately. + +The other British force which faced the Boers who were advancing through +Stormberg was commanded by General Gatacre, a man who bore a high +reputation for fearlessness and tireless energy, though he had been +criticised, notably during the Soudan campaign, for having called upon +his men for undue and unnecessary exertion. 'General Back-acher' they +called him, with rough soldierly chaff. A glance at his long thin +figure, his gaunt Don Quixote face, and his aggressive jaw would +show his personal energy, but might not satisfy the observer that he +possessed those intellectual gifts which qualify for high command. At +the action of the Atbara he, the brigadier in command, was the first to +reach and to tear down with his own hands the zareeba of the enemy--a +gallant exploit of the soldier, but a questionable position for the +General. The man's strength and his weakness lay in the incident. + +General Gatacre was nominally in command of a division, but so cruelly +had his men been diverted from him, some to Buller in Natal and some to +Methuen, that he could not assemble more than a brigade. Falling +back before the Boer advance, he found himself early in December at +Sterkstroom, while the Boers occupied the very strong position of +Stormberg, some thirty miles to the north of him. With the enemy so near +him it was Gatacre's nature to attack, and the moment that he thought +himself strong enough he did so. No doubt he had private information +as to the dangerous hold which the Boers were getting upon the colonial +Dutch, and it is possible that while Buller and Methuen were attacking +east and west they urged Gatacre to do something to hold the enemy in +the centre. On the night of December 9th he advanced. + +The fact that he was about to do so, and even the hour of the start, +appear to have been the common property of the camp some days before +the actual move. The 'Times' correspondent under the date December +7th details all that it is intended to do. It is to the credit of our +Generals as men, but to their detriment as soldiers, that they seem +throughout the campaign to have shown extraordinarily little power +of dissimulation. They did the obvious, and usually allowed it to be +obvious what they were about to do. One thinks of Napoleon striking at +Egypt; how he gave it abroad that the real object of the expedition was +Ireland, but breathed into the ears of one or two intimates that in very +truth it was bound for Genoa. The leading official at Toulon had no +more idea where the fleet and army of France had gone than the humblest +caulker in the yard. However, it is not fair to expect the subtlety +of the Corsican from the downright Saxon, but it remains strange and +deplorable that in a country filled with spies any one should have known +in advance that a so-called 'surprise' was about to be attempted. + +The force with which General Gatacre advanced consisted of the 2nd +Northumberland Fusiliers, 960 strong, with one Maxim; the 2nd Irish +Rifles, 840 strong, with one Maxim, and 250 Mounted Infantry. There were +two batteries of Field Artillery, the 74th and 77th. The total force was +well under 3000 men. About three in the afternoon the men were entrained +in open trucks under a burning sun, and for some reason, at which the +impetuous spirit of the General must have chafed, were kept waiting +for three hours. At eight o'clock they detrained at Molteno, and thence +after a short rest and a meal they started upon the night march which +was intended to end at the break of day at the Boer trenches. One feels +as if one were describing the operations of Magersfontein once again and +the parallel continues to be painfully exact. + +It was nine o'clock and pitch dark when the column moved out of Molteno +and struck across the black gloom of the veld, the wheels of the guns +being wrapped in hide to deaden the rattle. It was known that the +distance was not more than ten miles, and so when hour followed hour and +the guides were still unable to say that they had reached their point it +must have become perfectly evident that they had missed their way. +The men were dog-tired, a long day's work had been followed by a long +night's march, and they plodded along drowsily through the darkness. +The ground was broken and irregular. The weary soldiers stumbled as they +marched. Daylight came and revealed the column still looking for its +objective, the fiery General walking in front and leading his horse +behind him. It was evident that his plans had miscarried, but his +energetic and hardy temperament would not permit him to turn back +without a blow being struck. However one may commend his energy, one +cannot but stand aghast at his dispositions. The country was wild +and rocky, the very places for those tactics of the surprise and the +ambuscade in which the Boers excelled. And yet the column still plodded +aimlessly on in its dense formation, and if there were any attempt at +scouting ahead and on the flanks the result showed how ineffectively it +was carried out. It was at a quarter past four in the clear light of a +South African morning that a shot, and then another, and then a rolling +crash of musketry, told that we were to have one more rough lesson of +the result of neglecting the usual precautions of warfare. High up on +the face of a steep line of hill the Boer riflemen lay hid, and from +a short range their fire scourged our exposed flank. The men appear to +have been chiefly colonial rebels, and not Boers of the backveld, and to +that happy chance it may be that the comparative harmlessness of their +fire was due. Even now, in spite of the surprise, the situation might +have been saved had the bewildered troops and their harried officers +known exactly what to do. It is easy to be wise after the event, but it +appears now that the only course that could commend itself would be to +extricate the troops from their position, and then, if thought feasible, +to plan an attack. Instead of this a rush was made at the hillside, and +the infantry made their way some distance up it only to find that there +were positive ledges in front of them which could not be climbed. The +advance was at a dead stop, and the men lay down under the boulders +for cover from the hot fire which came from inaccessible marksmen above +them. Meanwhile the artillery had opened behind them, and their fire +(not for the first time in this campaign) was more deadly to their +friends than to their foes. At least one prominent officer fell among +his men, torn by British shrapnel bullets. Talana Hill and Modder River +have shown also, though perhaps in a less tragic degree, that what with +the long range of modern artillery fire, and what with the difficulty of +locating infantry who are using smokeless powder, it is necessary that +officers commanding batteries should be provided with the coolest +heads and the most powerful glasses of any men in the service, for a +responsibility which will become more and more terrific rests upon their +judgment. + +The question now, since the assault had failed, was how to extricate +the men from their position. Many withdrew down the hill, running the +gauntlet of the enemy's fire as they emerged from the boulders on to +the open ground, while others clung to their positions, some from +a soldierly hope that victory might finally incline to them, others +because it was clearly safer to lie among the rocks than to cross the +bullet-swept spaces beyond. Those portions of the force who extricated +themselves do not appear to have realised how many of their comrades had +remained behind, and so as the gap gradually increased between the men +who were stationary and the men who fell back all hope of the two bodies +reuniting became impossible. All the infantry who remained upon the +hillside were captured. The rest rallied at a point fifteen hundred +yards from the scene of the surprise, and began an orderly retreat to +Molteno. + +In the meanwhile three powerful Boer guns upon the ridge had opened +fire with great accuracy, but fortunately with defective shells. Had +the enemy's contractors been as trustworthy as their gunners in this +campaign, our losses would have been very much heavier, and it is +possible that here we catch a glimpse of some consequences of that +corruption which was one of the curses of the country. The guns were +moved with great smartness along the ridge, and opened fire again and +again, but never with great result. Our own batteries, the 74th and +77th, with our handful of mounted men, worked hard in covering the +retreat and holding back the enemy's pursuit. + +It is a sad subject to discuss, but it is the one instance in a campaign +containing many reverses which amounts to demoralisation among the +troops engaged. The Guards marching with the steadiness of Hyde Park +off the field of Magersfontein, or the men of Nicholson's Nek chafing +because they were not led in a last hopeless charge, are, even in +defeat, object lessons of military virtue. But here fatigue and +sleeplessness had taken all fire and spirit out of the men. They dropped +asleep by the roadside and had to be prodded up by their exhausted +officers. Many were taken prisoners in their slumber by the enemy who +gleaned behind them. Units broke into small straggling bodies, and it +was a sorry and bedraggled force which about ten o'clock came wandering +into Molteno. The place of honour in the rear was kept throughout by +the Irish Rifles, who preserved some military formation to the end. Our +losses in killed and wounded were not severe--military honour would have +been less sore had they been more so. Twenty-six killed, sixty-eight +wounded--that is all. But between the men on the hillside and the +somnambulists of the column, six hundred, about equally divided between +the Irish Rifles and the Northumberland Fusiliers, had been left as +prisoners. Two guns, too, had been lost in the hurried retreat. + +It is not for the historian--especially for a civilian historian--to say +a word unnecessarily to aggravate the pain of that brave man who, having +done all that personal courage could do, was seen afterwards sobbing on +the table of the waiting-room at Molteno, and bewailing his 'poor men.' +He had a disaster, but Nelson had one at Teneriffe and Napoleon at Acre, +and built their great reputations in spite of it. But the one good thing +of a disaster is that by examining it we may learn to do better in the +future, and so it would indeed be a perilous thing if we agreed that our +reverses were not a fit subject for open and frank discussion. + +It is not to the detriment of an enterprise that it should be daring +and call for considerable physical effort on the part of those who are +engaged in it. On the contrary, the conception of such plans is one of +the signs of a great military mind. But in the arranging of the details +the same military mind should assiduously occupy itself in foreseeing +and preventing every unnecessary thing which may make the execution +of such a plan more difficult. The idea of a swift sudden attack upon +Stormberg was excellent--the details of the operation are continually +open to criticism. + +How far the Boers suffered at Stormberg is unknown to us, but there +seems in this instance no reason to doubt their own statement that their +losses were very slight. At no time was any body of them exposed to +our fire, while we, as usual, fought in the open. Their numbers were +probably less than ours, and the quality of their shooting and want of +energy in pursuit make the defeat the more galling. On the other hand, +their guns were served with skill and audacity. They consisted of +commandos from Bethulie, Rouxville, and Smithfield, under the orders +of Olivier, with those colonials whom they had seduced from their +allegiance. + +This defeat of General Gatacre's, occurring, as it did, in a disaffected +district and one of great strategic importance, might have produced the +worst consequences. + +Fortunately no very evil result followed. No doubt the recruiting +of rebels was helped, but there was no forward movement and Molteno +remained in our hands. In the meanwhile Gatacre's force was reinforced +by a fresh battery, the 79th, and by a strong regiment, the Derbyshires, +so that with the 1st Royal Scots and the wing of the Berkshires he +was strong enough to hold his own until the time for a general advance +should come. So in the Stormberg district, as at the Modder River, the +same humiliating and absurd position of stalemate was established. + + + +CHAPTER 11. BATTLE OF COLENSO. + +Two serious defeats had within the week been inflicted upon the British +forces in South Africa. Cronje, lurking behind his trenches and his +barbed wire entanglements barred Methuen's road to Kimberley, while +in the northern part of Cape Colony Gatacre's wearied troops had been +defeated and driven by a force which consisted largely of British +subjects. But the public at home steeled their hearts and fixed their +eyes steadily upon Natal. There was their senior General and there the +main body of their troops. As brigade after brigade and battery after +battery touched at Cape Town, and were sent on instantly to Durban, it +was evident that it was in this quarter that the supreme effort was +to be made, and that there the light might at last break. In club, and +dining room, and railway car--wherever men met and talked--the same +words might be heard: 'Wait until Buller moves.' The hopes of a great +empire lay in the phrase. + +It was upon October 30th that Sir George White had been thrust back into +Ladysmith. On November 2nd telegraphic communication with the town was +interrupted. On November 3rd the railway line was cut. On November 10th +the Boers held Colenso and the line of the Tugela. On the 14th was the +affair of the armoured train. On the 18th the enemy were near Estcourt. +On the 21st they had reached the Mooi River. On the 23rd Hildyard +attacked them at Willow Grange. All these actions will be treated +elsewhere. This last one marks the turn of the tide. From then onwards +Sir Redvers Buller was massing his troops at Chieveley in preparation +for a great effort to cross the river and to relieve Ladysmith, the guns +of which, calling from behind the line of northern hills, told their +constant tale of restless attack and stubborn defence. + +But the task was as severe a one as the most fighting General could ask +for. On the southern side the banks formed a long slope which could be +shaved as with a razor by the rifle fire of the enemy. How to advance +across that broad open zone was indeed a problem. It was one of many +occasions in this war in which one wondered why, if a bullet-proof +shield capable of sheltering a lying man could be constructed, a trial +should not be given to it. Alternate rushes of companies with a safe +rest after each rush would save the troops from the continued tension of +that deadly never ending fire. However, it is idle to discuss what +might have been done to mitigate their trials. The open ground had to +be passed, and then they came to--not the enemy, but a broad and deep +river, with a single bridge, probably undermined, and a single ford, +which was found not to exist in practice. Beyond the river was tier +after tier of hills, crowned with stone walls and seamed with trenches, +defended by thousands of the best marksmen in the world, supported by +an admirable artillery. If, in spite of the advance over the open and +in spite of the passage of the river, a ridge could still be carried, it +was only to be commanded by the next; and so, one behind the other, +like the billows of the ocean, a series of hills and hollows rolled +northwards to Ladysmith. All attacks must be in the open. All defence +was from under cover. Add to this, that the young and energetic Louis +Botha was in command of the Boers. It was a desperate task, and yet +honour forbade that the garrison should be left to its fate. The venture +must be made. + +The most obvious criticism upon the operation is that if the attack +must be made it should not be made under the enemy's conditions. We +seem almost to have gone out of our way to make every obstacle--the +glacislike approach, the river, the trenches--as difficult as possible. +Future operations were to prove that it was not so difficult to deceive +Boer vigilance and by rapid movements to cross the Tugela. A military +authority has stated, I know not with what truth, that there is no +instance in history of a determined army being stopped by the line of +a river, and from Wellington at the Douro to the Russians on the Danube +many examples of the ease with which they may be passed will occur to +the reader. But Buller had some exceptional difficulties with which to +contend. He was weak in mounted troops, and was opposed to an enemy of +exceptional mobility who might attack his flank and rear if he exposed +them. He had not that great preponderance of numbers which came to him +later, and which enabled him to attempt a wide turning movement. One +advantage he had, the possession of a more powerful artillery, but his +heaviest guns were naturally his least mobile, and the more direct his +advance the more effective would his guns be. For these or other reasons +he determined upon a frontal attack on the formidable Boer position, and +he moved out of Chieveley Camp for that purpose at daybreak on Friday, +December 15th. + +The force which General Buller led into action was the finest which any +British general had handled since the battle of the Alma. Of infantry +he had four strong brigades: the 2nd (Hildyard's) consisting of the 2nd +Devons, the 2nd Queen's or West Surrey, the 2nd West Yorkshire, and +the 2nd East Surrey; the 4th Brigade (Lyttelton's) comprising the 2nd +Cameronians, the 3rd Rifles, the 1st Durhams, and the 1st Rifle Brigade; +the 5th Brigade (Hart's) with the 1st Inniskilling Fusiliers, the 1st +Connaught Rangers, 2nd Dublin Fusiliers, and the Border Regiment, this +last taking the place of the 2nd Irish Rifles, who were with Gatacre. +There remained the 6th Brigade (Barton's), which included the 2nd Royal +Fusiliers, the 2nd Scots Fusiliers, the 1st Welsh Fusiliers, and the 2nd +Irish Fusiliers--in all about 16,000 infantry. The mounted men, who were +commanded by Lord Dundonald, included the 13th Hussars, the 1st Royals, +Bethune's Mounted Infantry, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, three +squadrons of South African Horse, with a composite regiment formed from +the mounted infantry of the Rifles and of the Dublin Fusiliers with +squadrons of the Natal Carabineers and the Imperial Light Horse. These +irregular troops of horse might be criticised by martinets and pedants, +but they contained some of the finest fighting material in the army, +some urged on by personal hatred of the Boers and some by mere lust of +adventure. As an example of the latter one squadron of the South African +Horse was composed almost entirely of Texan muleteers, who, having come +over with their animals, had been drawn by their own gallant spirit into +the fighting line of their kinsmen. + +Cavalry was General Buller's weakest arm, but his artillery was strong +both in its quality and its number of guns. There were five batteries +(30 guns) of the Field Artillery, the 7th, 14th, 63rd, 64th, and 66th. +Besides these there were no fewer than sixteen naval guns from H.M.S. +'Terrible'--fourteen of which were 12-pounders, and the other two of +the 4.7 type which had done such good service both at Ladysmith and with +Methuen. The whole force which moved out from Chieveley Camp numbered +about 21,000 men. + +The work which was allotted to the army was simple in conception, +however terrible it might prove in execution. There were two points at +which the river might be crossed, one three miles off on the left, named +Bridle Drift, the other straight ahead at the Bridge of Colenso. The 5th +or Irish Brigade was to endeavour to cross at Bridle Drift, and then +to work down the river bank on the far side so as to support the 2nd or +English Brigade,--which was to cross at Colenso. The 4th Brigade was +to advance between these, so as to help either which should be in +difficulties. Meanwhile on the extreme right the mounted troops under +Dundonald were to cover the flank and to attack Hlangwane Hill, a +formidable position held strongly by the enemy upon the south bank of +the Tugela. The remaining Fusilier brigade of infantry was to support +this movement on the right. The guns were to cover the various attacks, +and if possible gain a position from which the trenches might be +enfiladed. This, simply stated, was the work which lay before the +British army. In the bright clear morning sunshine, under a cloudless +blue sky, they advanced with high hopes to the assault. Before them lay +the long level plain, then the curve of the river, and beyond, silent +and serene, like some peaceful dream landscape, stretched the lines and +lines of gently curving hills. It was just five o'clock in the morning +when the naval guns began to bay, and huge red dustclouds from the +distant foothills showed where the lyddite was bursting. No answer came +back, nor was there any movement upon the sunlit hills. It was +almost brutal, this furious violence to so gentle and unresponsive a +countryside. In no place could the keenest eye detect a sign of guns or +men, and yet death lurked in every hollow and crouched by every rock. + +It is so difficult to make a modern battle intelligible when fought, as +this was, over a front of seven or eight miles, that it is best perhaps +to take the doings of each column in turn, beginning with the left +flank, where Hart's Irish Brigade had advanced to the assault of Bridle +Drift. + +Under an unanswered and therefore an unaimed fire from the heavy guns +the Irish infantry moved forward upon the points which they had +been ordered to attack. The Dublins led, then the Connaughts, the +Inniskillings, and the Borderers. Incredible as it may appear after the +recent experiences of Magersfontein and of Stormberg, the men in the two +rear regiments appear to have been advanced in quarter column, and not +to have deployed until after the enemy's fire had opened. Had shrapnel +struck this close formation, as it was within an ace of doing, the loss +of life must have been as severe as it was unnecessary. + +On approaching the Drift--the position or even the existence of which +does not seem to have been very clearly defined--it was found that the +troops had to advance into a loop formed by the river, so that they were +exposed to a very heavy cross-fire upon their right flank, while they +were rained on by shrapnel from in front. No sign of the enemy could be +seen, though the men were dropping fast. It is a weird and soul-shaking +experience to advance over a sunlit and apparently a lonely countryside, +with no slightest movement upon its broad face, while the path which +you take is marked behind you by sobbing, gasping, writhing men, who can +only guess by the position of their wounds whence the shots came which +struck them down. All round, like the hissing of fat in the pan, is the +monotonous crackle and rattle of the Mausers; but the air is full of +it, and no one can define exactly whence it comes. Far away on some +hill upon the skyline there hangs the least gauzy veil of thin smoke to +indicate whence the six men who have just all fallen together, as if it +were some grim drill, met their death. Into such a hell-storm as this +it was that the soldiers have again and again advanced in the course +of this war, but it may be questioned whether they will not prove to be +among the last of mortals to be asked to endure such an ordeal. Other +methods of attack must be found or attacks must be abandoned, for +smokeless powder, quick-firing guns, and modern rifles make it all odds +on the defence! + +The gallant Irishmen pushed on, flushed with battle and careless for +their losses, the four regiments clubbed into one, with all military +organisation rapidly disappearing, and nothing left but their gallant +spirit and their furious desire to come to hand-grips with the enemy. +Rolling on in a broad wave of shouting angry men, they never winced +from the fire until they had swept up to the bank of the river. Northern +Inniskilling and Southern man of Connaught, orange and green, Protestant +and Catholic, Celt and Saxon, their only rivalry now was who could +shed his blood most freely for the common cause. How hateful seem those +provincial politics and narrow sectarian creeds which can hold such men +apart! + +The bank of the river had been gained, but where was the ford? The +water swept broad and unruffled in front of them, with no indication +of shallows. A few dashing fellows sprang in, but their cartridges and +rifles dragged them to the bottom. One or two may even have struggled +through to the further side, but on this there is a conflict of +evidence. It may be, though it seems incredible, that the river had been +partly dammed to deepen the Drift, or, as is more probable, that in the +rapid advance and attack the position of the Drift was lost. However +this may be, the troops could find no ford, and they lay down, as had +been done in so many previous actions, unwilling to retreat and unable +to advance, with the same merciless pelting from front and flank. In +every fold and behind every anthill the Irishmen lay thick and +waited for better times. There are many instances of their cheery and +uncomplaining humour. Colonel Brooke, of the Connaughts, fell at the +head of his men. Private Livingstone helped to carry him into safety, +and then, his task done, he confessed to having 'a bit of a rap meself,' +and sank fainting with a bullet through his throat. Another sat with a +bullet through both legs. 'Bring me a tin whistle and I'll blow ye any +tune ye like,' he cried, mindful of the Dargai piper. Another with his +arm hanging by a tendon puffed morosely at his short black pipe. Every +now and then, in face of the impossible, the fiery Celtic valour flamed +furiously upwards. 'Fix bayonets, men, and let us make a name for +ourselves,' cried a colour sergeant, and he never spoke again. For five +hours, under the tropical sun, the grimy parched men held on to the +ground they had occupied. British shells pitched short and fell among +them. A regiment in support fired at them, not knowing that any of the +line were so far advanced. Shot at from the front, the flank, and the +rear, the 5th Brigade held grimly on. + +But fortunately their orders to retire were at hand, and it is certain +that had they not reached them the regiments would have been uselessly +destroyed where they lay. It seems to have been Buller himself, who +showed extraordinary and ubiquitous personal energy during the day, that +ordered them to fall back. As they retreated there was an entire absence +of haste and panic, but officers and men were hopelessly jumbled up, and +General Hart--whose judgment may occasionally be questioned, but whose +cool courage was beyond praise--had hard work to reform the splendid +brigade which six hours before had tramped out of Chieveley Camp. +Between five and six hundred of them had fallen--a loss which +approximates to that of the Highland Brigade at Magersfontein. The +Dublins and the Connaughts were the heaviest sufferers. + +So much for the mishap of the 5th Brigade. It is superfluous to point +out that the same old omissions were responsible for the same old +results. Why were the men in quarter column when advancing against an +unseen foe? Why had no scouts gone forward to be certain of the position +of the ford? Where were the clouds of skirmishers which should precede +such an advance? The recent examples in the field and the teachings of +the text-books were equally set at naught, as they had been, and were +to be, so often in this campaign. There may be a science of war in the +lecture-rooms at Camberley, but very little of it found its way to +the veld. The slogging valour of the private, the careless dash of the +regimental officer--these were our military assets--but seldom the care +and foresight of our commanders. It is a thankless task to make such +comments, but the one great lesson of the war has been that the army is +too vital a thing to fall into the hands of a caste, and that it is +a national duty for every man to speak fearlessly and freely what he +believes to be the truth. + +Passing from the misadventure of the 5th Brigade we come as we move from +left to right upon the 4th, or Lyttelton's Brigade, which was instructed +not to attack itself but to support the attack on either side of it. +With the help of the naval guns it did what it could to extricate and +cover the retreat of the Irishmen, but it could play no very important +part in the action, and its losses were insignificant. On its right in +turn Hildyard's English Brigade had developed its attack upon Colenso +and the bridge. The regiments under Hildyard's lead were the 2nd West +Surrey, the 2nd Devons (whose first battalion was doing so well with the +Ladysmith force), the East Surreys, and the West Yorkshires. The enemy +had evidently anticipated the main attack on this position, and not only +were the trenches upon the other side exceptionally strong, but their +artillery converged upon the bridge, at least a dozen heavy pieces, +besides a number of quick-firers, bearing upon it. The Devons and the +Queens, in open order (an extended line of khaki dots, blending so +admirably with the plain that they were hardly visible when they +halted), led the attack, being supported by the East Surrey and the West +Yorkshires. Advancing under a very heavy fire the brigade experienced +much the same ordeal as their comrades of Hart's brigade, which was +mitigated by the fact that from the first they preserved their open +order in columns of half-companies extended to six paces, and that the +river in front of them did not permit that right flank fire which was so +fatal to the Irishmen. With a loss of some two hundred men the leading +regiments succeeded in reaching Colenso, and the West Surrey, advancing +by rushes of fifty yards at a time, had established itself in the +station, but a catastrophe had occurred at an earlier hour to the +artillery which was supporting it which rendered all further advance +impossible. For the reason of this we must follow the fortunes of the +next unit upon their right. + +This consisted of the important body of artillery who had been told off +to support the main attack. It comprised two field batteries, the 14th +and the 66th, under the command of Colonel Long, and six naval guns (two +of 4.7, and four 12-pounders) under Lieutenant Ogilvy of the 'Terrible.' +Long has the record of being a most zealous and dashing officer, whose +handling of the Egyptian artillery at the battle of the Atbara had much +to do with the success of the action. Unfortunately, these barbarian +campaigns, in which liberties may be taken with impunity, leave an evil +tradition, as the French have found with their Algerians. Our own close +formations, our adherence to volley firing, and in this instance the +use of our artillery all seem to be legacies of our savage wars. Be the +cause what it may, at an early stage of the action Long's guns whirled +forwards, outstripped the infantry brigades upon their flanks, left the +slow-moving naval guns with their ox-teams behind them, and unlimbered +within a thousand yards of the enemy's trenches. From this position he +opened fire upon Fort Wylie, which was the centre of that portion of the +Boer position which faced him. + +But his two unhappy batteries were destined not to turn the tide of +battle, as he had hoped, but rather to furnish the classic example +of the helplessness of artillery against modern rifle fire. Not even +Mercer's famous description of the effect of a flank fire upon his troop +of horse artillery at Waterloo could do justice to the blizzard of lead +which broke over the two doomed batteries. The teams fell in heaps, some +dead, some mutilated, and mutilating others in their frantic struggles. +One driver, crazed with horror, sprang on a leader, cut the traces and +tore madly off the field. But a perfect discipline reigned among the +vast majority of the gunners, and the words of command and the laying +and working of the guns were all as methodical as at Okehampton. Not +only was there a most deadly rifle fire, partly from the lines in front +and partly from the village of Colenso upon their left flank, but the +Boer automatic quick-firers found the range to a nicety, and the little +shells were crackling and banging continually over the batteries. +Already every gun had its litter of dead around it, but each was still +fringed by its own group of furious officers and sweating desperate +gunners. Poor Long was down, with a bullet through his arm and another +through his liver. 'Abandon be damned! We don't abandon guns!' was his +last cry as they dragged him into the shelter of a little donga hard by. +Captain Goldie dropped dead. So did Lieutenant Schreiber. Colonel Hunt +fell, shot in two places. Officers and men were falling fast. The guns +could not be worked, and yet they could not be removed, for every effort +to bring up teams from the shelter where the limbers lay ended in the +death of the horses. The survivors took refuge from the murderous fire +in that small hollow to which Long had been carried, a hundred yards +or so from the line of bullet-splashed cannon. One gun on the right was +still served by four men who refused to leave it. They seemed to bear +charmed lives, these four, as they strained and wrestled with their +beloved 15-pounder, amid the spurting sand and the blue wreaths of the +bursting shells. Then one gasped and fell against the trail, and his +comrade sank beside the wheel with his chin upon his breast. The +third threw up his hands and pitched forward upon his face; while the +survivor, a grim powder-stained figure, stood at attention looking death +in the eyes until he too was struck down. A useless sacrifice, you may +say; but while the men who saw them die can tell such a story round the +camp fire the example of such deaths as these does more than clang of +bugle or roll of drum to stir the warrior spirit of our race. + +For two hours the little knot of heart-sick humiliated officers and +men lay in the precarious shelter of the donga and looked out at the +bullet-swept plain and the line of silent guns. Many of them were +wounded. Their chief lay among them, still calling out in his delirium +for his guns. They had been joined by the gallant Baptie, a brave +surgeon, who rode across to the donga amid a murderous fire, and did +what he could for the injured men. Now and then a rush was made into the +open, sometimes in the hope of firing another round, sometimes to bring +a wounded comrade in from the pitiless pelt of the bullets. How fearful +was that lead-storm may be gathered from the fact that one gunner was +found with sixty-four wounds in his body. Several men dropped in these +sorties, and the disheartened survivors settled down once more in the +donga. + +The hope to which they clung was that their guns were not really lost, +but that the arrival of infantry would enable them to work them once +more. Infantry did at last arrive, but in such small numbers that it +made the situation more difficult instead of easing it. Colonel Bullock +had brought up two companies of the Devons to join the two companies (A +and B) of Scots Fusiliers who had been the original escort of the guns, +but such a handful could not turn the tide. They also took refuge in the +donga, and waited for better times. + +In the meanwhile the attention of Generals Buller and Clery had been +called to the desperate position of the guns, and they had made their +way to that further nullah in the rear where the remaining limber horses +and drivers were. This was some distance behind that other donga in +which Long, Bullock, and their Devons and gunners were crouching. 'Will +any of you volunteer to save the guns?' cried Buller. Corporal Nurse, +Gunner Young, and a few others responded. The desperate venture was +led by three aides-de-camp of the Generals, Congreve, Schofield, and +Roberts, the only son of the famous soldier. Two gun teams were taken +down; the horses galloping frantically through an infernal fire, +and each team succeeded in getting back with a gun. But the loss was +fearful. Roberts was mortally wounded. Congreve has left an account +which shows what a modern rifle fire at a thousand yards is like. 'My +first bullet went through my left sleeve and made the joint of my elbow +bleed, next a clod of earth caught me smack on the right arm, then my +horse got one, then my right leg one, then my horse another, and +that settled us.' The gallant fellow managed to crawl to the group of +castaways in the donga. Roberts insisted on being left where he fell, +for fear he should hamper the others. + +In the meanwhile Captain Reed, of the 7th Battery, had arrived with two +spare teams of horses, and another determined effort was made under his +leadership to save some of the guns. But the fire was too murderous. +Two-thirds of his horses and half his men, including himself, were +struck down, and General Buller commanded that all further attempts to +reach the abandoned batteries should be given up. Both he and General +Clery had been slightly wounded, and there were many operations over +the whole field of action to engage their attention. But making every +allowance for the pressure of many duties and for the confusion and +turmoil of a great action, it does seem one of the most inexplicable +incidents in British military history that the guns should ever have +been permitted to fall into the hands of the enemy. It is evident that +if our gunners could not live under the fire of the enemy it would be +equally impossible for the enemy to remove the guns under a fire from +a couple of battalions of our infantry. There were many regiments which +had hardly been engaged, and which could have been advanced for such a +purpose. The men of the Mounted Infantry actually volunteered for this +work, and none could have been more capable of carrying it out. There +was plenty of time also, for the guns were abandoned about eleven and +the Boers did not venture to seize them until four. Not only could +the guns have been saved, but they might, one would think, have been +transformed into an excellent bait for a trap to tempt the Boers out of +their trenches. It must have been with fear and trembling that Cherry +Emmett and his men first approached them, for how could they believe +that such incredible good fortune had come to them? However, the fact, +humiliating and inexplicable, is that the guns were so left, that the +whole force was withdrawn, and that not only the ten cannon, but also +the handful of Devons, with their Colonel, and the Fusiliers were taken +prisoners in the donga which had sheltered them all day. + +We have now, working from left to right, considered the operations of +Hart's Brigade at Bridle Drift, of Lyttelton's Brigade in support, of +Hildyard's which attacked Colenso, and of the luckless batteries which +were to have helped him. There remain two bodies of troops upon the +right, the further consisting of Dundonald's mounted men who were to +attack Hlangwane Hill, a fortified Boer position upon the south of the +river, while Barton's Brigade was to support it and to connect this +attack with the central operations. + +Dundonald's force was entirely too weak for such an operation as the +capture of the formidable entrenched hill, and it is probable that the +movement was meant rather as a reconnaissance than as an assault. He had +not more than a thousand men in all, mostly irregulars, and the position +which faced him was precipitous and entrenched, with barbed-wire +entanglements and automatic guns. But the gallant colonials were out +on their first action, and their fiery courage pushed the attack home. +Leaving their horses, they advanced a mile and a half on foot before +they came within easy range of the hidden riflemen, and learned the +lesson which had been taught to their comrades all along the line, that +given approximately equal numbers the attack in the open has no possible +chance against the concealed defence, and that the more bravely it is +pushed the more heavy is the repulse. The irregulars carried themselves +like old soldiers, they did all that mortal man could do, and they +retired coolly and slowly with the loss of 130 of the brave troopers. +The 7th Field Battery did all that was possible to support the advance +and cover the retirement. In no single place, on this day of disaster, +did one least gleam of success come to warm the hearts and reward the +exertions of our much-enduring men. + +Of Barton's Brigade there is nothing to be recorded, for they appear +neither to have supported the attack upon Hlangwane Hill on the one side +nor to have helped to cover the ill-fated guns on the other. Barton +was applied to for help by Dundonald, but refused to detach any of his +troops. If General Buller's real idea was a reconnaissance in force in +order to determine the position and strength of the Boer lines, then +of course his brigadiers must have felt a reluctance to entangle their +brigades in a battle which was really the result of a misunderstanding. +On the other hand, if, as the orders of the day seem to show, a serious +engagement was always intended, it is strange that two brigades out of +four should have played so insignificant a part. To Barton's Brigade +was given the responsibility of seeing that no right flank attack was +carried out by the Boers, and this held it back until it was clear that +no such attack was contemplated. After that one would have thought that, +had the situation been appreciated, at least two battalions might have +been spared to cover the abandoned guns with their rifle fire. Two +companies of the Scots Fusiliers did share the fortunes of the guns. +Two others, and one of the Irish Fusiliers, acted in support, but the +brigade as a whole, together with the 1st Royals and the 13th Hussars, +might as well have been at Aldershot for any bearing which their work +had upon the fortunes of the day. + +And so the first attempt at the relief of Ladysmith came to an end. At +twelve o'clock all the troops upon the ground were retreating for +the camp. There was nothing in the shape of rout or panic, and the +withdrawal was as orderly as the advance; but the fact remained that +we had just 1200 men in killed, wounded, and missing, and had gained +absolutely nothing. We had not even the satisfaction of knowing that +we had inflicted as well as endured punishment, for the enemy remained +throughout the day so cleverly concealed that it is doubtful whether +more than a hundred casualties occurred in their ranks. Once more it was +shown how weak an arm is artillery against an enemy who lies in shelter. + +Our wounded fortunately bore a high proportion to our killed, as they +always will do when it is rifle fire rather than shell fire which is +effective. Roughly we had 150 killed and about 720 wounded. A more +humiliating item is the 250 or so who were missing. These men were the +gunners, the Devons, and the Scots Fusiliers, who were taken in the +donga together with small bodies from the Connaughts, the Dublins, and +other regiments who, having found some shelter, were unable to leave +it, and clung on until the retirement of their regiments left them in +a hopeless position. Some of these small knots of men were allowed to +retire in the evening by the Boers, who seemed by no means anxious +to increase the number of their prisoners. Colonel Thackeray, of +the Inniskilling Fusiliers, found himself with a handful of his men +surrounded by the enemy, but owing to their good humour and his own tact +he succeeded in withdrawing them in safety. The losses fell chiefly on +Hart's Brigade, Hildyard's Brigade, and the colonial irregulars, who +bore off the honours of the fight. + +In his official report General Buller states that were it not for the +action of Colonel Long and the subsequent disaster to the artillery he +thought that the battle might have been a successful one. This is a hard +saying, and throws perhaps too much responsibility upon the gallant but +unfortunate gunner. There have been occasions in the war when greater +dash upon the part of our artillery might have changed the fate of the +day, and it is bad policy to be too severe upon the man who has taken +a risk and failed. The whole operation, with its advance over the open +against a concealed enemy with a river in his front, was so absolutely +desperate that Long may have seen that only desperate measures could +save the situation. To bring guns into action in front of the infantry +without having clearly defined the position of the opposing infantry +must always remain one of the most hazardous ventures of war. 'It would +certainly be mere folly,' says Prince Kraft, 'to advance artillery to +within 600 or 800 yards of a position held by infantry unless the latter +were under the fire of infantry from an even shorter range.' This 'mere +folly' is exactly what Colonel Long did, but it must be remembered in +extenuation that he shared with others the idea that the Boers were up +on the hills, and had no inkling that their front trenches were down at +the river. With the imperfect means at his disposal he did such scouting +as he could, and if his fiery and impetuous spirit led him into a +position which cost him so dearly it is certainly more easy for the +critic to extenuate his fault than that subsequent one which allowed +the abandoned guns to fall into the hands of the enemy. Nor is there any +evidence that the loss of these guns did seriously affect the fate of +the action, for at those other parts of the field where the infantry had +the full and unceasing support of the artillery the result was not more +favourable than at the centre. + +So much for Colenso. A more unsatisfactory and in some ways inexplicable +action is not to be found in the range of British military history. +And the fuller the light which has been poured upon it, the more +extraordinary does the battle appear. There are a preface and a sequel +to the action which have put a severe strain upon the charity which +the British public has always shown that it is prepared to extend to +a defeated General. The preface is that General Buller sent word to +General White that he proposed to attack upon the 17th, while the +actual attack was delivered upon the 15th, so that the garrison was +not prepared to make that demonstration which might have prevented the +besiegers from sending important reinforcements to Botha, had he needed +them. The sequel is more serious. Losing all heart at his defeat, +General Buller, although he had been officially informed that White had +provisions for seventy days, sent a heliogram advising the surrender +of the garrison. White's first reply, which deserves to live with the +anecdote of Nelson's telescope at his blind eye, was to the effect that +he believed the enemy had been tampering with Buller's messages. To +this Buller despatched an amended message, which with Sir George White's +reply, is here appended: + +Message of December 16th, as altered by that of December 17th, 1899. + +'I tried Colenso yesterday, but failed; the enemy is too strong for my +force except with siege operations, and these will take one full month +to prepare. Can you last so long? + +'How many days can you hold out? I suggest you firing away as much +ammunition as you can, and making best terms you can. I can remain here +if you have alternative suggestion, but unaided I cannot break in. I +find my infantry cannot fight more than ten miles from camp, and then +only if water can be got, and it is scarce here. Whatever happens, +recollect to burn your cipher, decipher, and code books, and all +deciphered messages.' + +From Sir G. White to Sir R. Buller. December 16th, 1899. + +'Yours of today received and understood. My suggestion is that you take +up strongest available position that will enable you to keep touch of +the enemy and harass him constantly with artillery fire, and in other +ways as much as possible. I can make food last for much longer than a +month, and will not think of making terms till I am forced to. You may +have hit enemy harder than you think. All our native spies report that +your artillery fire made considerable impression on enemy. Have your +losses been very heavy? If you lose touch of enemy, it will immensely +increase his opportunities of crushing me, and have worst effect +elsewhere. While you are in touch with him and in communication with +me, he has both of our forces to reckon with. Make every effort to get +reinforcements as early as possible, including India, and enlist every +man in both colonies who will serve and can ride. Things may look +brighter. The loss of 12,000 men here would be a heavy blow to England. +We must not yet think of it. I fear I could not cut my way to you. +Enteric fever is increasing alarmingly here. There are now 180 cases, +all within last month. Answer fully. I am keeping everything secret for +the present till I know your plans.' + +Much allowance is to be made for a man who is staggering under the +mental shock of defeat and the physical exertions which Buller had +endured. That the Government made such allowance is clear from the fact +that he was not instantly recalled. And yet the cold facts are that we +have a British General, at the head of 25,000 men, recommending another +General, at the head of 12,000 men only twelve miles off, to lay down +his arms to an army which was certainly very inferior in numbers to +the total British force; and this because he had once been defeated, +although he knew that there was still time for the whole resources of +the Empire to be poured into Natal in order to prevent so shocking a +disaster. Such is a plain statement of the advice which Buller gave and +which White rejected. For the instant the fate not only of South Africa +but even, as I believe, of the Empire hung upon the decision of the old +soldier in Ladysmith, who had to resist the proposals of his own General +as sternly as the attacks of the enemy. He who sorely needed help +and encouragement became, as his message shows, the helper and the +encourager. It was a tremendous test, and Sir George White came through +it with a staunchness and a loyalty which saved us not only from +overwhelming present disaster, but from a hideous memory which must have +haunted British military annals for centuries to come. + + + +CHAPTER 12. THE DARK HOUR. + +The week which extended from December 10th to December 17th, 1899, was +the blackest one known during our generation, and the most disastrous +for British arms during the century. We had in the short space of seven +days lost, beyond all extenuation or excuse, three separate actions. +No single defeat was of vital importance in itself, but the cumulative +effect, occurring as they did to each of the main British forces in +South Africa, was very great. The total loss amounted to about three +thousand men and twelve guns, while the indirect effects in the way of +loss of prestige to ourselves and increased confidence and more numerous +recruits to our enemy were incalculable. + +It is singular to glance at the extracts from the European press at that +time and to observe the delight and foolish exultation with which our +reverses were received. That this should occur in the French journals +is not unnatural, since our history has been largely a contest with that +Power, and we can regard with complacency an enmity which is the tribute +to our success. Russia, too, as the least progressive of European +States, has a natural antagonism of thought, if not of interests, to the +Power which stands most prominently for individual freedom and liberal +institutions. The same poor excuse may be made for the organs of the +Vatican. But what are we to say of the insensate railing of Germany, +a country whose ally we have been for centuries? In the days of +Marlborough, in the darkest hours of Frederick the Great, in the great +world struggle of Napoleon, we have been the brothers-in-arms of these +people. So with the Austrians also. If both these countries were +not finally swept from the map by Napoleon, it is largely to British +subsidies and British tenacity that they owe it. And yet these are the +folk who turned most bitterly against us at the only time in modern +history when we had a chance of distinguishing our friends from our +foes. Never again, I trust, on any pretext will a British guinea be +spent or a British soldier or sailor shed his blood for such allies. The +political lesson of this writer has been that we should make ourselves +strong within the empire, and let all outside it, save only our kinsmen +of America, go their own way and meet their own fate without let or +hindrance from us. It is amazing to find that even the Americans could +understand the stock from which they are themselves sprung so little +that such papers as the 'New York Herald' should imagine that our defeat +at Colenso was a good opportunity for us to terminate the war. The +other leading American journals, however, took a more sane view of the +situation, and realised that ten years of such defeats would not find +the end either of our resolution or of our resources. + +In the British Islands and in the empire at large our misfortunes were +met by a sombre but unalterable determination to carry the war to a +successful conclusion and to spare no sacrifices which could lead to +that end. Amid the humiliation of our reverses there was a certain +undercurrent of satisfaction that the deeds of our foemen should at +least have made the contention that the strong was wantonly attacking +the weak an absurd one. Under the stimulus of defeat the opposition to +the war sensibly decreased. It had become too absurd even for the most +unreasonable platform orator to contend that a struggle had been forced +upon the Boers when every fresh detail showed how thoroughly they had +prepared for such a contingency and how much we had to make up. Many +who had opposed the war simply on that sporting instinct which backs +the smaller against the larger began to realise that what with the +geographical position of these people, what with the nature of their +country, and what with the mobility, number, and hardihood of their +forces, we had undertaken a task which would necessitate such a military +effort as we had never before been called upon to make. When Kipling at +the dawn of the war had sung of 'fifty thousand horse and foot going to +Table Bay,' the statement had seemed extreme. Now it was growing upon +the public mind that four times this number would not be an excessive +estimate. But the nation rose grandly to the effort. Their only fear, +often and loudly expressed, was that Parliament would deal too tamely +with the situation and fail to demand sufficient sacrifices. Such was +the wave of feeling over the country that it was impossible to hold +a peace meeting anywhere without a certainty of riot. The only London +daily which had opposed the war, though very ably edited, was overborne +by the general sentiment and compelled to change its line. In the +provinces also opposition was almost silent, and the great colonies were +even more unanimous than the mother country. Misfortune had solidified +us where success might have caused a sentimental opposition. + +On the whole, the energetic mood of the nation was reflected by the +decided measures of the Government. Before the deep-sea cables had told +us the lists of our dead, steps had been taken to prove to the world +how great were our latent resources and how determined our spirit. On +December 18th, two days after Colenso, the following provisions were +made for carrying on the campaign. + +1. That as General Buller's hands were full in Natal the supervision and +direction of the whole campaign should be placed in the hands of Lord +Roberts, with Lord Kitchener as his chief of staff. Thus the famous old +soldier and the famous young one were called together to the assistance +of the country. + +2. That all the remaining army reserves should be called out. + +3. That the 7th Division (10,000 men) should be despatched to Africa, +and that an 8th Division should be formed ready for service. + +4. That considerable artillery reinforcements, including a howitzer +brigade, should go out. + +5. That eleven Militia battalions be sent abroad. + +6. That a strong contingent of Volunteers be sent out. + +7. That a Yeomanry mounted force be despatched. + +8. That mounted corps be raised at the discretion of the +Commander-in-Chief in South Africa. + +9. That the patriotic offers of further contingents from the colonies be +gratefully accepted. + +By these measures it was calculated that from seventy to a hundred +thousand men would be added to our South African armies, the numbers of +which were already not short of a hundred thousand. + +It is one thing, however, to draw up paper reinforcements, and it is +another, in a free country where no compulsion would be tolerated, to +turn these plans into actual regiments and squadrons. But if there were +any who doubted that this ancient nation still glowed with the spirit +of its youth his fears must soon have passed away. For this far-distant +war, a war of the unseen foe and of the murderous ambuscade, there +were so many volunteers that the authorities were embarrassed by their +numbers and their pertinacity. It was a stimulating sight to see those +long queues of top-hatted, frock-coated young men who waited their turn +for the orderly room with as much desperate anxiety as if hard fare, +a veld bed, and Boer bullets were all that life had that was worth the +holding. Especially the Imperial Yeomanry, a corps of riders and shots, +appealed to the sporting instincts of our race. Many could ride and not +shoot, many could shoot and not ride, more candidates were rejected +than were accepted, and yet in a very short time eight thousand men from +every class were wearing the grey coats and bandoliers. This singular +and formidable force was drawn from every part of England and Scotland, +with a contingent of hard-riding Irish fox-hunters. Noblemen and +grooms rode knee to knee in the ranks, and the officers included many +well-known country gentlemen and masters of hounds. Well horsed and well +armed, a better force for the work in hand could not be imagined. So +high did the patriotism run that corps were formed in which the men +not only found their own equipment but contributed their pay to the war +fund. Many young men about town justified their existence for the first +time. In a single club, which is peculiarly consecrated to the jeunesse +doree, three hundred members rode to the wars. + +Without waiting for these distant but necessary reinforcements, the +Generals in Africa had two divisions to look to, one of which was +actually arriving while the other was on the sea. These formed the 5th +Division under Sir Charles Warren, and the 6th Division under General +Kelly-Kenny. Until these forces should arrive it was obviously best that +the three armies should wait, for, unless there should be pressing need +of help on the part of the besieged garrisons or imminent prospects of +European complications, every week which passed was in our favour. There +was therefore a long lull in the war, during which Methuen strengthened +his position at Modder River, Gatacre held his own at Sterkstroom, +and Buller built up his strength for another attempt at the relief of +Ladysmith. The only connected series of operations during that time were +those of General French in the neighbourhood of Colesberg, an account of +which will be found in their entirety elsewhere. A short narrative may +be given here of the doings of each of these forces until the period of +inaction came to an end. + +Methuen after the repulse at Magersfontein had fallen back upon the +lines of Modder River, and had fortified them in such a way that he felt +himself secure against assault. Cronje, on the other hand, had extended +his position both to the right and to the left, and had strengthened the +works which we had already found so formidable. In this way a condition +of inaction was established which was really very much to our advantage, +since Methuen retained his communications by rail, while all supplies +to Cronje had to come a hundred miles by road. The British troops, and +especially the Highland Brigade, were badly in need of a rest after the +very severe ordeal which they had undergone. General Hector Macdonald, +whose military record had earned the soldierly name of 'Fighting Mac,' +was sent for from India to take the place of the ill-fated Wauchope. +Pending his arrival and that of reinforcements, Methuen remained quiet, +and the Boers fortunately followed his example. From over the northern +horizon those silver flashes of light told that Kimberley was dauntless +in the present and hopeful of the future. On January 1st the British +post of Kuruman fell, by which twelve officers and 120 police were +captured. The town was isolated, and its capture could have no effect +upon the general operations, but it is remarkable as the only capture of +a fortified post up to this point made by the Boers. + +The monotony of the long wait was broken by one dashing raid carried +out by a detachment from Methuen's line of communications. This force +consisted of 200 Queenslanders, 100 Canadians (Toronto Company), 40 +mounted Munster Fusiliers, a New South Wales Ambulance, and 200 of the +Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry with one horse battery. This singular +force, so small in numbers and yet raked from the ends of the earth, was +under the command of Colonel Pilcher. Moving out suddenly and rapidly +from Belmont, it struck at the extreme right of the Boer line, which +consisted of a laager occupied by the colonial rebels of that part of +the country. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the colonists at +the prospect of action. 'At last!' was the cry which went up from the +Canadians when they were ordered to advance. The result was an absolute +success. The rebels broke and fled, their camp was taken, and forty of +them fell into our hands. Our own loss was slight, three killed and a +few wounded. The flying column occupied the town of Douglas and hoisted +the British flag there; but it was decided that the time had not yet +come when it could be held, and the force fell back upon Belmont. The +rebel prisoners were sent down to Cape Town for trial. The movement was +covered by the advance of a force under Babington from Methuen's force. +This detachment, consisting of the 9th and 12th Lancers, with some +mounted infantry and G troop of Horse Artillery, prevented any +interference with Pilcher's force from the north. It is worthy of record +that though the two bodies of troops were operating at a distance of +thirty miles, they succeeded in preserving a telephonic connection, +seventeen minutes being the average time taken over question and reply. + +Encouraged by this small success, Methuen's cavalry on January 9th made +another raid over the Free State border, which is remarkable for the +fact that, save in the case of Colonel Plumer's Rhodesian Force, it +was the first time that the enemy's frontier had been violated. The +expedition under Babington consisted of the same regiments and the +same battery which had covered Pilcher's advance. The line taken was a +south-easterly one, so as to get far round the left flank of the Boer +position. With the aid of a party of the Victorian Mounted Rifles +a considerable tract of country was overrun, and some farmhouses +destroyed. The latter extreme measure may have been taken as a warning +to the Boers that such depredations as they had carried out in parts of +Natal could not pass with impunity, but both the policy and the humanity +of such a course appear to be open to question, and there was some cause +for the remonstrance which President Kruger shortly after addressed to +us upon the subject. The expedition returned to Modder Camp at the end +of two days without having seen the enemy. Save for one or two similar +cavalry reconnaissances, an occasional interchange of long-range shells, +a little sniping, and one or two false alarms at night, which broke the +whole front of Magersfontein into yellow lines of angry light, nothing +happened to Methuen's force which is worthy of record up to the time of +that movement of General Hector Macdonald to Koodoosberg which may be +considered in connection with Lord Roberts's decisive operations, of +which it was really a part. + +The doings of General Gatacre's force during the long interval which +passed between his disaster at Stormberg and the final general advance +may be rapidly chronicled. Although nominally in command of a division, +Gatacre's troops were continually drafted off to east and to west, so +that it was seldom that he had more than a brigade under his orders. +During the weeks of waiting, his force consisted of three field +batteries, the 74th, 77th, and 79th, some mounted police and irregular +horse, the remains of the Royal Irish Rifles and the 2nd Northumberland +Fusiliers, the 1st Royal Scots, the Derbyshire regiment, and the +Berkshires, the whole amounting to about 5500 men, who had to hold the +whole district from Sterkstroom to East London on the coast, with a +victorious enemy in front and a disaffected population around. Under +these circumstances he could not attempt to do more than to hold his +ground at Sterkstroom, and this he did unflinchingly until the line of +the Boer defence broke down. Scouting and raiding expeditions, chiefly +organised by Captain De Montmorency--whose early death cut short the +career of one who possessed every quality of a partisan leader--broke +the monotony of inaction. During the week which ended the year a +succession of small skirmishes, of which the town of Dordrecht was the +centre, exercised the troops in irregular warfare. + +On January 3rd the Boer forces advanced and attacked the camp of the +Cape Mounted Police, which was some eight miles in advance of Gatacre's +main position. The movement, however, was a half-hearted one, and was +beaten off with small loss upon their part and less upon ours. From then +onwards no movement of importance took place in Gatacre's column until +the general advance along the whole line had cleared his difficulties +from in front of him. + +In the meantime General Buller had also been playing a waiting game, +and, secure in the knowledge that Ladysmith could still hold out, he +had been building up his strength for a second attempt to relieve the +hard-pressed and much-enduring garrison. After the repulse at Colenso, +Hildyard's and Barton's brigades had remained at Chieveley with the +mounted infantry, the naval guns, and two field batteries. The rest of +the force retired to Frere, some miles in the rear. Emboldened by their +success, the Boers sent raiding parties over the Tugela on either flank, +which were only checked by our patrols being extended from Springfield +on the west to Weenen on the east. A few plundered farmhouses and a +small list of killed and wounded horsemen on either side were the sole +result of these spasmodic and half-hearted operations. + +Time here as elsewhere was working for the British, for reinforcements +were steadily coming to Buller's army. By the new year Sir Charles +Warren's division (the 5th) was nearly complete at Estcourt, whence it +could reach the front at any moment. This division included the 10th +brigade, consisting of the Imperial Light Infantry, 2nd Somersets, the +2nd Dorsets, and the 2nd Middlesex; also the 11th, called the Lancashire +Brigade, formed by the 2nd Royal Lancaster, the 2nd Lancashire +Fusiliers, the 1st South Lancashire, and the York and Lancaster. The +division also included the 14th Hussars and the 19th, 20th, and 28th +batteries of Field Artillery. Other batteries of artillery, including +one howitzer battery, came to strengthen Buller's force, which amounted +now to more than 30,000 men. Immense transport preparations had to be +made, however, before the force could have the mobility necessary for a +flank march, and it was not until January 11th that General Buller's new +plans for advance could be set into action. Before describing what these +plans were and the disappointing fate which awaited them, we will +return to the story of the siege of Ladysmith, and show how narrowly the +relieving force escaped the humiliation--some would say the disgrace--of +seeing the town which looked to them for help fall beneath their very +eyes. That this did not occur is entirely due to the fierce tenacity and +savage endurance of the disease-ridden and half-starved men who held on +to the frail lines which covered it. + + + +CHAPTER 13. THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH. + +Monday, October 30th, 1899, is not a date which can be looked back to +with satisfaction by any Briton. In a scrambling and ill-managed action +we had lost our detached left wing almost to a man, while our right had +been hustled with no great loss but with some ignominy into Ladysmith. +Our guns had been outshot, our infantry checked, and our cavalry +paralysed. Eight hundred prisoners may seem no great loss when compared +with a Sedan, or even with an Ulm; but such matters are comparative, +and the force which laid down its arms at Nicholson's Nek is the +largest British force which has surrendered since the days of our great +grandfathers, when the egregious Duke of York commanded in Flanders. + +Sir George White was now confronted with the certainty of an investment, +an event for which apparently no preparation had been made, since with +an open railway behind him so many useless mouths had been permitted +to remain in the town. Ladysmith lies in a hollow and is dominated by +a ring of hills, some near and some distant. The near ones were in our +hands, but no attempt had been made in the early days of the war to +fortify and hold Bulwana, Lombard's Kop, and the other positions from +which the town might be shelled. Whether these might or might not have +been successfully held has been much disputed by military men, +the balance of opinion being that Bulwana, at least, which has a +water-supply of its own, might have been retained. This question, +however, was already academic, as the outer hills were in the hands +of the enemy. As it was, the inner line--Caesar's Camp, Wagon Hill, +Rifleman's Post, and round to Helpmakaar Hill--made a perimeter of +fourteen miles, and the difficulty of retaining so extensive a line goes +far to exonerate General White, not only for abandoning the outer hills, +but also for retaining his cavalry in the town. + +After the battle of Ladysmith and the retreat of the British, the Boers +in their deliberate but effective fashion set about the investment of +the town, while the British commander accepted the same as inevitable, +content if he could stem and hold back from the colony the threatened +flood of invasion. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the +commandoes gradually closed in upon the south and east, harassed by +some cavalry operations and reconnaissances upon our part, the effect of +which was much exaggerated by the press. On Thursday, November 2nd, the +last train escaped under a brisk fire, the passengers upon the wrong +side of the seats. At 2 P.M. on the same day the telegraph line was cut, +and the lonely town settled herself somberly down to the task of holding +off the exultant Boers until the day--supposed to be imminent--when the +relieving army should appear from among the labyrinth of mountains which +lay to the south of them. Some there were who, knowing both the enemy +and the mountains, felt a cold chill within their hearts as they asked +themselves how an army was to come through, but the greater number, from +General to private, trusted implicitly in the valour of their comrades +and in the luck of the British Army. + +One example of that historical luck was ever before their eyes in the +shape of those invaluable naval guns which had arrived so dramatically +at the very crisis of the fight, in time to check the monster on +Pepworth Hill and to cover the retreat of the army. But for them the +besieged must have lain impotent under the muzzles of the huge Creusots. +But in spite of the naive claims put forward by the Boers to some +special Providence--a process which a friendly German critic described +as 'commandeering the Almighty'--it is certain that in a very peculiar +degree, in the early months of this war there came again and again a +happy chance, or a merciful interposition, which saved the British from +disaster. Now in this first week of November, when every hill, north +and south and east and west, flashed and smoked, and the great 96-pound +shells groaned and screamed over the town, it was to the long thin +4.7's and to the hearty bearded men who worked them, that soldiers and +townsfolk looked for help. These guns of Lambton's, supplemented by two +old-fashioned 6.3 howitzers manned by survivors from No. 10 Mountain +Battery, did all that was possible to keep down the fire of the heavy +Boer guns. If they could not save, they could at least hit back, +and punishment is not so bad to bear when one is giving as well as +receiving. + +By the end of the first week of November the Boers had established their +circle of fire. On the east of the town, broken by the loops of the Klip +River, is a broad green plain, some miles in extent, which furnished +grazing ground for the horses and cattle of the besieged. Beyond it +rises into a long flat-topped hill the famous Bulwana, upon which lay +one great Creusot and several smaller guns. To the north, on Pepworth +Hill, was another Creusot, and between the two were the Boer batteries +upon Lombard's Kop. The British naval guns were placed upon this side, +for, as the open loop formed by the river lies at this end, it is the +part of the defences which is most liable to assault. From thence all +round the west down to Besters in the south was a continuous series of +hills, each crowned with Boer guns, which, if they could not harm the +distant town, were at least effective in holding the garrison to its +lines. So formidable were these positions that, amid much outspoken +criticism, it has never been suggested that White would have been +justified with a limited garrison in incurring the heavy loss of life +which must have followed an attempt to force them. + +The first few days of the siege were clouded by the death of Lieutenant +Egerton of the 'Powerful,' one of the most promising officers in the +Navy. One leg and the other foot were carried off, as he lay upon the +sandbag parapet watching the effect of our fire. 'There's an end of my +cricket,' said the gallant sportsman, and he was carried to the rear +with a cigar between his clenched teeth. + +On November 3rd a strong cavalry reconnaissance was pushed down +the Colenso road to ascertain the force which the enemy had in that +direction. Colonel Brocklehurst took with him the 18th and 19th Hussars, +the 5th Lancers and the 5th Dragoon Guards, with the Light Horse and the +Natal Volunteers. Some desultory fighting ensued which achieved no end, +and was chiefly remarkable for the excellent behaviour of the Colonials, +who showed that they were the equals of the Regulars in gallantry and +their superiors in the tactics which such a country requires. The death +of Major Taunton, Captain Knapp, and young Brabant, the son of the +General who did such good service at a later stage of the war, was a +heavy price to pay for the knowledge that the Boers were in considerable +strength to the south. + +By the end of this week the town had already settled down to the routine +of the siege. General Joubert, with the chivalry which had always +distinguished him, had permitted the garrison to send out the +non-combatants to a place called Intombi Camp (promptly named +Funkersdorp by the facetious) where they were safe from the shells, +though the burden of their support still fell of course upon the +much-tried commissariat. The hale and male of the townsfolk refused for +the most part to avoid the common danger, and clung tenaciously to their +shot-torn village. Fortunately the river has worn down its banks until +it runs through a deep channel, in the sides of which it was found to be +possible to hollow out caves which were practically bomb-proof. Here +for some months the townsfolk led a troglodytic existence, returning +to their homes upon that much appreciated seventh day of rest which was +granted to them by their Sabbatarian besiegers. + +The perimeter of the defence had been divided off so that each +corps might be responsible for its own section. To the south was +the Manchester Regiment upon the hill called Caesar's Camp. Between +Lombard's Kop and the town, on the north-east, were the Devons. To the +north, at what seemed the vulnerable point, were the Rifle Brigade, the +Rifles, and the remains of the 18th Hussars. To the west were the 5th +Lancers, 19th Hussars, and 5th Dragoon Guards. The rest of the force was +encamped round the outskirts of the town. + +There appears to have been some idea in the Boer mind that the mere fact +that they held a dominant position over the town would soon necessitate +the surrender of the army. At the end of a week they had realised, +however, just as the British had, that a siege lay before both. Their +fire upon the town was heavy but not deadly, though it became more +effective as the weeks went on. Their practice at a range of five miles +was exceedingly accurate. At the same time their riflemen became more +venturesome, and on Tuesday, November 7th, they made a half-hearted +attack upon the Manchesters' position on the south, which was driven +back without difficulty. On the 9th, however, their attempt was of a +more serious and sustained character. It began with a heavy shell-fire +and with a demonstration of rifle-fire from every side, which had +for its object the prevention of reinforcements for the true point of +danger, which again was Caesar's Camp at the south. It is evident that +the Boers had from the beginning made up their minds that here lay the +key of the position, as the two serious attacks--that of November 9th +and that of January 6th--were directed upon this point. + +The Manchesters at Caesar's Camp had been reinforced by the 1st +battalion 60th Rifles, who held the prolongation of the same ridge, +which is called Waggon Hill. With the dawn it was found that the Boer +riflemen were within eight hundred yards, and from then till evening a +constant fire was maintained upon the hill. The Boer, however, save when +the odds are all in his favour, is not, in spite of his considerable +personal bravery, at his best in attack. His racial traditions, +depending upon the necessity for economy of human life, are all opposed +to it. As a consequence two regiments well posted were able to hold them +off all day with a loss which did not exceed thirty killed and wounded, +while the enemy, exposed to the shrapnel of the 42nd battery, as well +as the rifle-fire of the infantry, must have suffered very much more +severely. The result of the action was a well-grounded belief that in +daylight there was very little chance of the Boers being able to carry +the lines. As the date was that of the Prince of Wales's birthday, a +salute of twenty-one shotted naval guns wound up a successful day. + +The failure of the attempt upon Ladysmith seems to have convinced the +enemy that a waiting game, in which hunger, shell-fire, and disease were +their allies, would be surer and less expensive than an open assault. +From their distant hilltops they continued to plague the town, while +garrison and citizens sat grimly patient, and learned to endure if not +to enjoy the crash of the 96-pound shells, and the patter of shrapnel +upon their corrugated-iron roofs. The supplies were adequate, and the +besieged were fortunate in the presence of a first-class organiser, +Colonel Ward of Islington fame, who with the assistance of Colonel +Stoneman systematised the collection and issue of all the food, civil +and military, so as to stretch it to its utmost. With rain overhead and +mud underfoot, chafing at their own idleness and humiliated by their +own position, the soldiers waited through the weary weeks for the relief +which never came. On some days there was more shell-fire, on some less; +on some there was sniping, on some none; on some they sent a little +feeler of cavalry and guns out of the town, on most they lay still--such +were the ups and downs of life in Ladysmith. The inevitable siege +paper, 'The Ladysmith Lyre,' appeared, and did something to relieve the +monotony by the exasperation of its jokes. Night, morning, and noon the +shells rained upon the town until the most timid learned fatalism if not +bravery. The crash of the percussion, and the strange musical tang of +the shrapnel sounded ever in their ears. With their glasses the garrison +could see the gay frocks and parasols of the Boer ladies who had come +down by train to see the torture of the doomed town. + +The Boers were sufficiently numerous, aided by their strong positions +and excellent artillery, to mask the Ladysmith force and to sweep on at +once to the conquest of Natal. Had they done so it is hard to see what +could have prevented them from riding their horses down to salt water. +A few odds and ends, half battalions and local volunteers, stood between +them and Durban. But here, as on the Orange River, a singular paralysis +seems to have struck them. When the road lay clear before them the first +transports of the army corps were hardly past St. Vincent, but before +they had made up their mind to take that road the harbour of Durban +was packed with our shipping and ten thousand men had thrown themselves +across their path. + +For a moment we may leave the fortunes of Ladysmith to follow this +southerly movement of the Boers. Within two days of the investment of +the town they had swung round their left flank and attacked Colenso, +twelve miles south, shelling the Durban Light Infantry out of their post +with a long-range fire. The British fell back twenty-seven miles +and concentrated at Estcourt, leaving the all-important Colenso +railway-bridge in the hands of the enemy. From this onwards they held +the north of the Tugela, and many a widow wore crepe before we got our +grip upon it once more. Never was there a more critical week in the war, +but having got Colenso the Boers did little more. They formally annexed +the whole of Northern Natal to the Orange Free State--a dangerous +precedent when the tables should be turned. With amazing assurance the +burghers pegged out farms for themselves and sent for their people to +occupy these newly won estates. + +On November 5th the Boers had remained so inert that the British +returned in small force to Colenso and removed some stores--which seems +to suggest that the original retirement was premature. Four days passed +in inactivity--four precious days for us--and on the evening of the +fourth, November 9th, the watchers on the signal station at Table +Mountain saw the smoke of a great steamer coming past Robben Island. It +was the 'Roslin Castle' with the first of the reinforcements. Within the +week the 'Moor,' 'Yorkshire,' 'Aurania,' 'Hawarden Castle,' 'Gascon,' +'Armenian,' 'Oriental,' and a fleet of others had passed for Durban with +15,000 men. Once again the command of the sea had saved the Empire. + +But, now that it was too late, the Boers suddenly took the initiative, +and in dramatic fashion. North of Estcourt, where General Hildyard was +being daily reinforced from the sea, there are two small townlets, or at +least geographical (and railway) points. Frere is about ten miles north +of Estcourt, and Chieveley is five miles north of that and about as +far to the south of Colenso. On November 15th an armoured train was +despatched from Estcourt to see what was going on up the line. Already +one disaster had befallen us in this campaign on account of these clumsy +contrivances, and a heavier one was now to confirm the opinion that, +acting alone, they are totally inadmissible. As a means of carrying +artillery for a force operating upon either flank of them, with an +assured retreat behind, there may be a place for them in modern war, but +as a method of scouting they appear to be the most inefficient and also +the most expensive that has ever been invented. An intelligent horseman +would gather more information, be less visible, and retain some freedom +as to route. After our experience the armoured train may steam out of +military history. + +The train contained ninety Dublin Fusiliers, eighty Durban Volunteers, +and ten sailors, with a naval 7-pounder gun. Captain Haldane of the +Gordons, Lieutenant Frankland (Dublin Fusiliers), and Winston Churchill, +the well-known correspondent, accompanied the expedition. What might +have been foreseen occurred. The train steamed into the advancing Boer +army, was fired upon, tried to escape, found the rails blocked behind +it, and upset. Dublins and Durbans were shot helplessly out of their +trucks, under a heavy fire. A railway accident is a nervous thing, and +so is an ambuscade, but the combination of the two must be appalling. +Yet there were brave hearts which rose to the occasion. Haldane and +Frankland rallied the troops, and Churchill the engine-driver. The +engine was disentangled and sent on with its cab full of wounded. +Churchill, who had escaped upon it, came gallantly back to share the +fate of his comrades. The dazed shaken soldiers continued a futile +resistance for some time, but there was neither help nor escape and +nothing for them but surrender. The most Spartan military critic cannot +blame them. A few slipped away besides those who escaped upon the +engine. Our losses were two killed, twenty wounded, and about eighty +taken. It is remarkable that of the three leaders both Haldane and +Churchill succeeded in escaping from Pretoria. + +A double tide of armed men was now pouring into Southern Natal. From +below, trainload after trainload of British regulars were coming up to +the danger point, feted and cheered at every station. Lonely farmhouses +near the line hung out their Union Jacks, and the folk on the stoep +heard the roar of the choruses as the great trains swung upon their way. +From above the Boers were flooding down, as Churchill saw them, dour, +resolute, riding silently through the rain, or chanting hymns round +their camp fires--brave honest farmers, but standing unconsciously for +mediaevalism and corruption, even as our rough-tongued Tommies stood for +civilisation, progress, and equal rights for all men. + +The invading force, the numbers of which could not have exceeded some +few thousands, formidable only for their mobility, lapped round the more +powerful but less active force at Estcourt, and struck behind it at +its communications. There was for a day or two some discussion as to a +further retreat, but Hildyard, strengthened by the advice and presence +of Colonel Long, determined to hold his ground. On November 21st the +raiding Boers were as far south as Nottingham Road, a point thirty miles +south of Estcourt and only forty miles north of the considerable city of +Pietermaritzburg. The situation was serious. Either the invaders must +be stopped, or the second largest town in the colony would be in +their hands. From all sides came tales of plundered farms and broken +households. Some at least of the raiders behaved with wanton brutality. +Smashed pianos, shattered pictures, slaughtered stock, and vile +inscriptions, all exhibit a predatory and violent side to the +paradoxical Boer character. [Footnote: More than once I have heard the +farmers in the Free State acknowledge that the ruin which had come upon +them was a just retribution for the excesses of Natal.] + +The next British post behind Hildyard's at Estcourt was Barton's upon +the Mooi River, thirty miles to the south. Upon this the Boers made a +half-hearted attempt, but Joubert had begun to realise the strength of +the British reinforcements and the impossibility with the numbers at his +disposal of investing a succession of British posts. He ordered Botha to +withdraw from Mooi River and begin his northerly trek. + +The turning-point of the Boer invasion of Natal was marked, though we +cannot claim that it was caused, by the action of Willow Grange. This +was fought by Hildyard and Walter Kitchener in command of the Estcourt +garrison, against about 2000 of the invaders under Louis Botha. The +troops engaged were the East and West Surreys (four companies of the +latter), the West Yorkshires, the Durban Light Infantry, No. 7 battery +R.F.A., two naval guns, and some hundreds of Colonial Horse. + +The enemy being observed to have a gun upon a hill within striking +distance of Estcourt, this force set out on November 22nd to make a +night attack and to endeavour to capture it. The hill was taken without +difficulty, but it was found that the gun had been removed. A severe +counter-attack was made at daylight by the Boers, and the troops were +compelled with no great loss and less glory to return to the town. +The Surreys and the Yorkshires behaved very well, but were placed in a +difficult position and were badly supported by the artillery. Martyn's +Mounted Infantry covered the retirement with great gallantry, but the +skirmish ended in a British loss of fourteen killed and fifty wounded +or missing, which was certainly more than that of the Boers. From this +indecisive action of Willow Grange the Boer invasion receded until +General Buller, coming to the front on November 27th, found that the +enemy was once more occupying the line of the Tugela. He himself moved +up to Frere, where he devoted his time and energies to the collection of +that force with which he was destined, after three failures, to make his +way into Ladysmith. + +One unexpected and little known result of the Boer expedition into +Southern Natal was that their leader, the chivalrous Joubert, injured +himself through his horse stumbling, and was physically incapacitated +for the remainder of the campaign. He returned almost immediately to +Pretoria, leaving the command of the Tugela in the hands of Louis Botha. + +Leaving Buller to organise his army at Frere, and the Boer commanders +to draw their screen of formidable defences along the Tugela, we will +return once more to the fortunes of the unhappy town round which the +interest of the world, and possibly the destiny of the Empire, were +centering. It is very certain that had Ladysmith fallen, and twelve +thousand British soldiers with a million pounds' worth of stores fallen +into the hands of the invaders, we should have been faced with the +alternative of abandoning the struggle, or of reconquering South Africa +from Cape Town northwards. South Africa is the keystone of the Empire, +and for the instant Ladysmith was the keystone of South Africa. But +the courage of the troops who held the shell-torn townlet, and the +confidence of the public who watched them, never faltered for an +instant. + +December 8th was marked by a gallant exploit on the part of the +beleaguered garrison. Not a whisper had transpired of the coming sortie, +and a quarter of an hour before the start officers engaged had no idea +of it. O si sic omnia! At ten o'clock a band of men slipped out of the +town. There were six hundred of them, all irregulars, drawn from the +Imperial Light Horse, the Natal Carabineers, and the Border Mounted +Rifles, under the command of Hunter, youngest and most dashing of +British Generals. Edwardes and Boyston were the subcommanders. The men +had no knowledge of where they were going or what they had to do, but +they crept silently along under a drifting sky, with peeps of a quarter +moon, over a mimosa-shadowed plain. At last in front of them there +loomed a dark mass--it was Gun Hill, from which one of the great +Creusots had plagued them. A strong support (four hundred men) was left +at the base of the hill, and the others, one hundred Imperials, one +hundred Borders and Carabineers, ten Sappers, crept upwards with Major +Henderson as guide. A Dutch outpost challenged, but was satisfied by a +Dutch-speaking Carabineer. Higher and higher the men crept, the silence +broken only by the occasional slip of a stone or the rustle of their own +breathing. Most of them had left their boots below. Even in the darkness +they kept some formation, and the right wing curved forward to outflank +the defence. Suddenly a Mauser crack and a spurt of flame--then another +and another! 'Come on, boys! Fix bayonets!' yelled Karri Davies. There +were no bayonets, but that was a detail. At the word the gunners were +off, and there in the darkness in front of the storming party loomed +the enormous gun, gigantic in that uncertain light. Out with the +huge breech-block! Wrap the long lean muzzle round with a collar of +gun-cotton! Keep the guard upon the run until the work is done! +Hunter stood by with a night light in his hand until the charge was in +position, and then, with a crash which brought both armies from their +tents, the huge tube reared up on its mountings and toppled backwards +into the pit. A howitzer lurked beside it, and this also was blown into +ruin. The attendant Maxim was dragged back by the exultant captors, who +reached the town amid shoutings and laughter with the first break of +day. One man wounded, the gallant Henderson, is the cheap price for the +best-planned and most dashing exploit of the war. Secrecy in conception, +vigour in execution--they are the root ideas of the soldier's craft. So +easily was the enterprise carried out, and so defective the Boer +watch, that it is probable that if all the guns had been simultaneously +attacked the Boers might have found themselves without a single piece of +ordnance in the morning. [Footnote: The destruction of the Creusot was +not as complete as was hoped. It was taken back to Pretoria, three feet +were sawn off the muzzle, and a new breech-block provided. The gun was +then sent to Kimberley, and it was the heavy cannon which arrived late +in the history of that siege and caused considerable consternation among +the inhabitants.] + +On the same morning (December 9th) a cavalry reconnaissance was pushed +in the direction of Pepworth Hill. The object no doubt was to ascertain +whether the enemy were still present in force, and the terrific roll +of the Mausers answered it in the affirmative. Two killed and twenty +wounded was the price which we paid for the information. There had been +three such reconnaissances in the five weeks of the siege, and it +is difficult to see what advantage they gave or how they are to be +justified. Far be it for the civilian to dogmatise upon such matters, +but one can repeat, and to the best of one's judgment endorse, the +opinion of the vast majority of officers. + +There were heart burnings among the Regulars that the colonial troops +should have gone in front of them, so their martial jealousy was allayed +three nights later by the same task being given to them. Four companies +of the 2nd Rifle Brigade were the troops chosen, with a few sappers and +gunners, the whole under the command of Colonel Metcalfe of the same +battalion. A single gun, the 4.7 howitzer upon Surprise Hill, was the +objective. Again there was the stealthy advance through the darkness, +again the support was left at the bottom of the hill, again the two +companies carefully ascended, again there was the challenge, the rush, +the flight, and the gun was in the hands of the stormers. + +Here and only here the story varies. For some reason the fuse used +for the guncotton was defective, and half an hour elapsed before the +explosion destroyed the howitzer. When it came it came very thoroughly, +but it was a weary time in coming. Then our men descended the hill, +but the Boers were already crowding in upon them from either side. The +English cries of the soldiers were answered in English by the Boers, and +slouch hat or helmet dimly seen in the mirk was the only badge of friend +or foe. A singular letter is extant from young Reitz (the son of the +Transvaal secretary), who was present. According to his account there +were but eight Boers present, but assertion or contradiction equally +valueless in the darkness of such a night, and there are some obvious +discrepancies in his statement. 'We fired among them,' says Reitz. +'They stopped and all cried out "Rifle Brigade." Then one of them said +"Charge!" One officer, Captain Paley, advanced, though he had two bullet +wounds already. Joubert gave him another shot and he fell on the top of +us. Four Englishmen got hold of Jan Luttig and struck him on the head +with their rifles and stabbed him in the stomach with a bayonet. He +seized two of them by the throat and shouted "Help, boys!" His two +nearest comrades shot two of them, and the other two bolted. Then the +English came up in numbers, about eight hundred, along the footpath' +(there were two hundred on the hill, but the exaggeration is pardonable +in the darkness), 'and we lay as quiet as mice along the bank. Farther +on the English killed three of our men with bayonets and wounded two. +In the morning we found Captain Paley and twenty-two of them killed and +wounded.' It seems evident that Reitz means that his own little +party were eight men, and not that that represented the force which +intercepted the retiring riflemen. Within his own knowledge five of his +countrymen were killed in the scuffle, so the total loss was probably +considerable. Our own casualties were eleven dead, forty-three wounded, +and six prisoners, but the price was not excessive for the howitzer and +for the morale which arises from such exploits. Had it not been for that +unfortunate fuse, the second success might have been as bloodless as the +first. 'I am sorry,' said a sympathetic correspondent to the stricken +Paley. 'But we got the gun,' Paley whispered, and he spoke for the +Brigade. + +Amid the shell-fire, the scanty rations, the enteric and the dysentery, +one ray of comfort had always brightened the garrison. Buller was only +twelve miles away--they could hear his guns--and when his advance came +in earnest their sufferings would be at an end. But now in an instant +this single light was shut off and the true nature of their situation +was revealed to them. Buller had indeed moved...but backwards. He had +been defeated at Colenso, and the siege was not ending but beginning. +With heavier hearts but undiminished resolution the army and the +townsfolk settled down to the long, dour struggle. The exultant enemy +replaced their shattered guns and drew their lines closer still round +the stricken town. + +A record of the siege onwards until the break of the New Year centres +upon the sordid details of the sick returns and of the price of food. +Fifty on one day, seventy on the next, passed under the hands of the +overworked and devoted doctors. Fifteen hundred, and later two thousand, +of the garrison were down. The air was poisoned by foul sewage and dark +with obscene flies. They speckled the scanty food. Eggs were already a +shilling each, cigarettes sixpence, whisky five pounds a bottle: a city +more free from gluttony and drunkenness has never been seen. + +Shell-fire has shown itself in this war to be an excellent ordeal for +those who desire martial excitement with a minimum of danger. But +now and again some black chance guides a bomb--one in five thousand +perhaps--to a most tragic issue. Such a deadly missile falling among +Boers near Kimberley is said to have slain nine and wounded seventeen. +In Ladysmith too there are days to be marked in red when the gunner shot +better than he knew. One shell on December 17th killed six men (Natal +Carabineers), wounded three, and destroyed fourteen horses. The grisly +fact has been recorded that five separate human legs lay upon the +ground. On December 22nd another tragic shot killed five and wounded +twelve of the Devons. On the same day four officers of the 5th Lancers +(including the Colonel) and one sergeant were wounded--a most disastrous +day. A little later it was again the turn of the Devons, who lost one +officer killed and ten wounded. Christmas set in amid misery, hunger, +and disease, the more piteous for the grim attempts to amuse the +children and live up to the joyous season, when the present of Santa +Claus was too often a 96-pound shell. On the top of all other troubles +it was now known that the heavy ammunition was running short and must +be husbanded for emergencies. There was no surcease, however, in the +constant hail which fell upon the town. Two or three hundred shells were +a not unusual daily allowance. The monotonous bombardment with which +the New Year had commenced was soon to be varied by a most gallant and +spirit-stirring clash of arms. On January 6th the Boers delivered their +great assault upon Ladysmith--an onfall so gallantly made and gallantly +met that it deserves to rank among the classic fights of British +military history. It is a tale which neither side need be ashamed to +tell. Honour to the sturdy infantry who held their grip so long, +and honour also to the rough men of the veld, who, led by untrained +civilians, stretched us to the utmost capacity of our endurance. + +It may be that the Boers wished once for all to have done at all costs +with the constant menace to their rear, or it may be that the deliberate +preparations of Buller for his second advance had alarmed them, and that +they realised that they must act quickly if they were to act at all. +At any rate, early in the New Year a most determined attack was decided +upon. The storming party consisted of some hundreds of picked volunteers +from the Heidelberg (Transvaal) and Harrismith (Free State) contingents, +led by de Villiers. They were supported by several thousand riflemen, +who might secure their success or cover their retreat. Eighteen heavy +guns had been trained upon the long ridge, one end of which has been +called Caesar's Camp and the other Waggon Hill. This hill, three miles +long, lay to the south of the town, and the Boers had early recognised +it as being the most vulnerable point, for it was against it that their +attack of November 9th had been directed. Now, after two months, they +were about to renew the attempt with greater resolution against less +robust opponents. At twelve o'clock our scouts heard the sounds of the +chanting of hymns in the Boer camps. At two in the morning crowds +of barefooted men were clustering round the base of the ridge, and +threading their way, rifle in hand, among the mimosa-bushes and +scattered boulders which cover the slope of the hill. Some working +parties were moving guns into position, and the noise of their labour +helped to drown the sound of the Boer advance. Both at Caesar's Camp, +the east end of the ridge, and at Waggon Hill, the west end (the points +being, I repeat, three miles apart), the attack came as a complete +surprise. The outposts were shot or driven in, and the stormers were +on the ridge almost as soon as their presence was detected. The line of +rocks blazed with the flash of their guns. + +Caesar's Camp was garrisoned by one sturdy regiment, the Manchesters, +aided by a Colt automatic gun. The defence had been arranged in the form +of small sangars, each held by from ten to twenty men. Some few of these +were rushed in the darkness, but the Lancashire men pulled themselves +together and held on strenuously to those which remained. The crash +of musketry woke the sleeping town, and the streets resounded with the +shouting of the officers and the rattling of arms as the men mustered in +the darkness and hurried to the points of danger. + +Three companies of the Gordons had been left near Caesar's Camp, and +these, under Captain Carnegie, threw themselves into the struggle. Four +other companies of Gordons came up in support from the town, losing +upon the way their splendid colonel, Dick-Cunyngham, who was killed by a +chance shot at three thousand yards, on this his first appearance since +he had recovered from his wounds at Elandslaagte. Later four companies +of the Rifle Brigade were thrown into the firing line, and a total of +two and a half infantry battalions held that end of the position. It was +not a man too much. With the dawn of day it could be seen that the Boers +held the southern and we the northern slopes, while the narrow plateau +between formed a bloody debatable ground. Along a front of a quarter of +a mile fierce eyes glared and rifle barrels flashed from behind every +rock, and the long fight swayed a little back or a little forward with +each upward heave of the stormers or rally of the soldiers. For hours +the combatants were so near that a stone or a taunt could be thrown from +one to the other. Some scattered sangars still held their own, though +the Boers had passed them. One such, manned by fourteen privates of the +Manchester Regiment, remained untaken, but had only two defenders left +at the end of the bloody day. + +With the coming of the light the 53rd Field Battery, the one which had +already done so admirably at Lombard's Kop, again deserved well of its +country. It was impossible to get behind the Boers and fire straight at +their position, so every shell fired had to skim over the heads of +our own men upon the ridge and so pitch upon the reverse slope. Yet so +accurate was the fire, carried on under an incessant rain of shells +from the big Dutch gun on Bulwana, that not one shot miscarried and that +Major Abdy and his men succeeded in sweeping the further slope without +loss to our own fighting line. Exactly the same feat was equally well +performed at the other end of the position by Major Blewitt's 21st +Battery, which was exposed to an even more searching fire than the 53rd. +Any one who has seen the iron endurance of British gunners and marvelled +at the answering shot which flashes out through the very dust of the +enemy's exploding shell, will understand how fine must have been the +spectacle of these two batteries working in the open, with the ground +round them sharded with splinters. Eye-witnesses have left it upon +record that the sight of Major Blewitt strolling up and down among his +guns, and turning over with his toe the last fallen section of iron, was +one of the most vivid and stirring impressions which they carried from +the fight. Here also it was that the gallant Sergeant Bosley, his arm +and his leg stricken off by a Boer shell, cried to his comrades to roll +his body off the trail and go on working the gun. + +At the same time as--or rather earlier than--the onslaught upon Caesar's +Camp a similar attack had been made with secrecy and determination upon +the western end of the position called Waggon Hill. The barefooted Boers +burst suddenly with a roll of rifle-fire into the little garrison of +Imperial Light Horse and Sappers who held the position. Mathias of the +former, Digby-Jones and Dennis of the latter, showed that 'two in +the morning' courage which Napoleon rated as the highest of military +virtues. They and their men were surprised but not disconcerted, and +stood desperately to a slogging match at the closest quarters. Seventeen +Sappers were down out of thirty, and more than half the little body of +irregulars. This end of the position was feebly fortified, and it is +surprising that so experienced and sound a soldier as Ian Hamilton +should have left it so. The defence had no marked advantage as compared +with the attack, neither trench, sangar, nor wire entanglement, and in +numbers they were immensely inferior. Two companies of the 60th Rifles +and a small body of the ubiquitous Gordons happened to be upon the hill +and threw themselves into the fray, but they were unable to turn the +tide. Of thirty-three Gordons under Lieutenant MacNaughten thirty were +wounded. [Footnote: The Gordons and the Sappers were there that morning +to re-escort one of Lambton's 4.7 guns, which was to be mounted there. +Ten seamen were with the gun, and lost three of their number in the +defence.] As our men retired under the shelter of the northern slope +they were reinforced by another hundred and fifty Gordons under the +stalwart Miller-Wallnutt, a man cast in the mould of a Berserk Viking. +To their aid also came two hundred of the Imperial Light Horse, burning +to assist their comrades. Another half-battalion of Rifles came with +them. At each end of the long ridge the situation at the dawn of day +was almost identical. In each the stormers had seized one side, but were +brought to a stand by the defenders upon the other, while the British +guns fired over the heads of their own infantry to rake the further +slope. + +It was on the Waggon Hill side, however, that the Boer exertions were +most continuous and strenuous and our own resistance most desperate. +There fought the gallant de Villiers, while Ian Hamilton rallied the +defenders and led them in repeated rushes against the enemy's line. +Continually reinforced from below, the Boers fought with extraordinary +resolution. Never will any one who witnessed that Homeric contest +question the valour of our foes. It was a murderous business on both +sides. Edwardes of the Light Horse was struck down. In a gun-emplacement +a strange encounter took place at point-blank range between a group of +Boers and of Britons. De Villiers of the Free State shot Miller-Wallnut +dead, Ian Hamilton fired at de Villiers with his revolver and missed +him. Young Albrecht of the Light Horse shot de Villiers. A Boer named de +Jaeger shot Albrecht. Digby-Jones of the Sappers shot de Jaeger. Only a +few minutes later the gallant lad, who had already won fame enough for +a veteran, was himself mortally wounded, and Dennis, his comrade in arms +and in glory, fell by his side. + +There has been no better fighting in our time than that upon Waggon Hill +on that January morning, and no better fighters than the Imperial Light +Horsemen who formed the centre of the defence. Here, as at Elandslaagte, +they proved themselves worthy to stand in line with the crack regiments +of the British army. + +Through the long day the fight maintained its equilibrium along the +summit of the ridge, swaying a little that way or this, but never +amounting to a repulse of the stormers or to a rout of the defenders. So +intermixed were the combatants that a wounded man more than once found +himself a rest for the rifles of his enemies. One unfortunate soldier in +this position received six more bullets from his own comrades in their +efforts to reach the deadly rifleman behind him. At four o'clock a huge +bank of clouds which had towered upwards unheeded by the struggling men +burst suddenly into a terrific thunderstorm with vivid lightnings and +lashing rain. It is curious that the British victory at Elandslaagte +was heralded by just such another storm. Up on the bullet-swept hill +the long fringes of fighting men took no more heed of the elements than +would two bulldogs who have each other by the throat. Up the greasy +hillside, foul with mud and with blood, came the Boer reserves, and +up the northern slope came our own reserve, the Devon Regiment, fit +representatives of that virile county. Admirably led by Park, their +gallant Colonel, the Devons swept the Boers before them, and the Rifles, +Gordons, and Light Horse joined in the wild charge which finally cleared +the ridge. + +But the end was not yet. The Boer had taken a risk over this venture, +and now he had to pay the stakes. Down the hill he passed, crouching, +darting, but the spruits behind him were turned into swirling streams, +and as he hesitated for an instant upon the brink the relentless sleet +of bullets came from behind. Many were swept away down the gorges and +into the Klip River, never again to be accounted for in the lists of +their field-cornet. The majority splashed through, found their horses +in their shelter, and galloped off across the great Bulwana Plain, as +fairly beaten in as fair a fight as ever brave men were yet. + +The cheers of victory as the Devons swept the ridge had heartened the +weary men upon Caesar's Camp to a similar effort. Manchesters, Gordons, +and Rifles, aided by the fire of two batteries, cleared the long-debated +position. Wet, cold, weary, and without food for twenty-six hours, the +bedraggled Tommies stood yelling and waving, amid the litter of dead and +of dying. + +It was a near thing. Had the ridge fallen the town must have followed, +and history perhaps have been changed. In the old stiff-rank Majuba days +we should have been swept in an hour from the position. But the wily man +behind the rock was now to find an equally wily man in front of him. +The soldier had at last learned something of the craft of the hunter. He +clung to his shelter, he dwelled on his aim, he ignored his dressings, +he laid aside the eighteenth-century traditions of his pigtailed +ancestor, and he hit the Boers harder than they had been hit yet. No +return may ever come to us of their losses on that occasion; 80 dead +bodies were returned to them from the ridge alone, while the slopes, +the dongas, and the river each had its own separate tale. No possible +estimate can make it less than three hundred killed and wounded, while +many place it at a much higher figure. Our own casualties were very +serious and the proportion of dead to wounded unusually high, owing to +the fact that the greater part of the wounds were necessarily of the +head. In killed we lost 13 officers, 135 men. In wounded 28 officers, +244 men--a total of 420, Lord Ava, the honoured Son of an honoured +father, the fiery Dick-Cunyngham, stalwart Miller-Wallnutt, the brave +boy sappers Digby-Jones and Dennis, Adams and Packman of the Light +Horse, the chivalrous Lafone--we had to mourn quality as well as +numbers. The grim test of the casualty returns shows that it was to the +Imperial Light Horse (ten officers down, and the regiment commanded by +a junior captain), the Manchesters, the Gordons, the Devons, and the 2nd +Rifle Brigade that the honours of the day are due. + +In the course of the day two attacks had been made upon other points +of the British position, the one on Observation Hill on the north, the +other on the Helpmakaar position on the east. Of these the latter was +never pushed home and was an obvious feint, but in the case of the other +it was not until Schutte, their commander, and forty or fifty men had +been killed and wounded, that the stormers abandoned their attempt. At +every point the assailants found the same scattered but impenetrable +fringe of riflemen, and the same energetic batteries waiting for them. + +Throughout the Empire the course of this great struggle was watched with +the keenest solicitude and with all that painful emotion which springs +from impotent sympathy. By heliogram to Buller, and so to the farthest +ends of that great body whose nerves are the telegraphic wires, there +came the announcement of the attack. Then after an interval of hours +came 'everywhere repulsed, but fighting continues.' Then, 'Attack +continues. Enemy reinforced from the south.' Then 'Attack renewed. Very +hard pressed.' There the messages ended for the day, leaving the +Empire black with apprehension. The darkest forecasts and most dreary +anticipations were indulged by the most temperate and best-informed +London papers. For the first time the very suggestion that the campaign +might be above our strength was made to the public. And then at last +there came the official news of the repulse of the assault. Far away +at Ladysmith, the weary men and their sorely tried officers gathered to +return thanks to God for His manifold mercies, but in London also hearts +were stricken solemn by the greatness of the crisis, and lips long +unused to prayer joined in the devotions of the absent warriors. + + + +CHAPTER 14. THE COLESBERG OPERATIONS. + +Of the four British armies in the field I have attempted to tell the +story of the western one which advanced to help Kimberley, of the +eastern one which was repulsed at Colenso, and of the central one which +was checked at Stormberg. There remains one other central one, some +account of which must now be given. + +It was, as has already been pointed out, a long three weeks after the +declaration of war before the forces of the Orange Free State began to +invade Cape Colony. But for this most providential delay it is probable +that the ultimate fighting would have been, not among the mountains +and kopjes of Stormberg and Colesberg, but amid those formidable passes +which lie in the Hex Valley, immediately to the north of Cape Town, and +that the armies of the invader would have been doubled by their kinsmen +of the Colony. The ultimate result of the war must have been the same, +but the sight of all South Africa in flames might have brought about +those Continental complications which have always been so grave a +menace. + +The invasion of the Colony was at two points along the line of the two +railways which connect the countries, the one passing over the Orange +River at Norval's Pont and the other at Bethulie, about forty miles +to the eastward. There were no British troops available (a fact to +be considered by those, if any remain, who imagine that the British +entertained any design against the Republics), and the Boers jogged +slowly southward amid a Dutch population who hesitated between their +unity of race and speech and their knowledge of just and generous +treatment by the Empire. A large number were won over by the invaders, +and, like all apostates, distinguished themselves by their virulence and +harshness towards their loyal neighbours. Here and there in towns which +were off the railway line, in Barkly East or Ladygrey, the farmers met +together with rifle and bandolier, tied orange puggarees round their +hats, and rode off to join the enemy. Possibly these ignorant and +isolated men hardly recognised what it was that they were doing. +They have found out since. In some of the border districts the rebels +numbered ninety per cent of the Dutch population. + +In the meanwhile, the British leaders had been strenuously endeavouring +to scrape together a few troops with which to make some stand against +the enemy. For this purpose two small forces were necessary--the one to +oppose the advance through Bethulie and Stormberg, the other to meet +the invaders, who, having passed the river at Norval's Pont, had now +occupied Colesberg. The former task was, as already shown, committed to +General Gatacre. The latter was allotted to General French, the victor +of Elandslaagte, who had escaped in the very last train from Ladysmith, +and had taken over this new and important duty. French's force assembled +at Arundel and Gatacre's at Sterkstroom. It is with the operations of +the former that we have now to deal. + +General French, for whom South Africa has for once proved not the grave +but the cradle of a reputation, had before the war gained some name as +a smart and energetic cavalry officer. There were some who, watching +his handling of a considerable body of horse at the great Salisbury +manoeuvres in 1898, conceived the highest opinion of his capacity, and +it was due to the strong support of General Buller, who had commanded +in these peaceful operations, that French received his appointment for +South Africa. In person he is short and thick, with a pugnacious jaw. In +character he is a man of cold persistence and of fiery energy, cautious +and yet audacious, weighing his actions well, but carrying them out +with the dash which befits a mounted leader. He is remarkable for +the quickness of his decision--'can think at a gallop,' as an admirer +expressed it. Such was the man, alert, resourceful, and determined, to +whom was entrusted the holding back of the Colesberg Boers. + +Although the main advance of the invaders was along the lines of the two +railways, they ventured, as they realised how weak the forces were +which opposed them, to break off both to the east and west, occupying +Dordrecht on one side and Steynsberg on the other. Nothing of importance +accrued from the possession of these points, and our attention may be +concentrated upon the main line of action. + +French's original force was a mere handful of men, scraped together from +anywhere. Naauwpoort was his base, and thence he made a reconnaissance +by rail on November 23rd towards Arundel, the next hamlet along the +line, taking with him a company of the Black Watch, forty mounted +infantry, and a troop of the New South Wales Lancers. Nothing resulted +from the expedition save that the two forces came into touch with each +other, a touch which was sustained for months under many vicissitudes, +until the invaders were driven back once more over Norval's Pont. +Finding that Arundel was weakly held, French advanced up to it, and +established his camp there towards the end of December, within six +miles of the Boer lines at Rensburg, to the south of Colesberg. His +mission--with his present forces--was to prevent the further advance of +the enemy into the Colony, but he was not strong enough yet to make a +serious attempt to drive them out. + +Before the move to Arundel on December 13th his detachment had increased +in size, and consisted largely of mounted men, so that it attained a +mobility very unusual for a British force. On December 13th there was +an attempt upon the part of the Boers to advance south, which was easily +held by the British Cavalry and Horse Artillery. The country over which +French was operating is dotted with those singular kopjes which the Boer +loves--kopjes which are often so grotesque in shape that one feels as +if they must be due to some error of refraction when one looks at them. +But, on the other hand, between these hills there lie wide stretches +of the green or russet savanna, the noblest field that a horseman or +a horse gunner could wish. The riflemen clung to the hills, French's +troopers circled warily upon the plain, gradually contracting the Boer +position by threatening to cut off this or that outlying kopje, and so +the enemy was slowly herded into Colesberg. The small but mobile British +force covered a very large area, and hardly a day passed that one +or other part of it did not come in contact with the enemy. With +one regiment of infantry (the Berkshires) to hold the centre, his +hard-riding Tasmanians, New Zealanders, and Australians, with the Scots +Greys, the Inniskillings, and the Carabineers, formed an elastic +but impenetrable screen to cover the Colony. They were aided by two +batteries, O and R, of Horse Artillery. Every day General French rode +out and made a close personal examination of the enemy's position, while +his scouts and outposts were instructed to maintain the closest possible +touch. + +On December 30th the enemy abandoned Rensburg, which had been their +advanced post, and concentrated at Colesberg, upon which French moved +his force up and seized Rensburg. The very next day, December 31st, +he began a vigorous and long-continued series of operations. At five +o'clock on Sunday evening he moved out of Rensburg camp, with R and +half of O batteries R.H.A., the 10th Hussars, the Inniskillings, and the +Berkshires, to take up a position on the west of Colesberg. At the same +time Colonel Porter, with the half-battery of O, his own regiment (the +Carabineers), and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, left camp at two on +the Monday morning and took a position on the enemy's left flank. The +Berkshires under Major McCracken seized the hill, driving a Boer picket +off it, and the Horse enfiladed the enemy's right flank, and after a +risky artillery duel succeeded in silencing his guns. Next morning, +however (January 2nd, 1900), it was found that the Boers, strongly +reinforced, were back near their old positions, and French had to be +content to hold them and to wait for more troops. + +These were not long in coming, for the Suffolk Regiment had arrived, +followed by the Composite Regiment (chosen from the Household Cavalry) +and the 4th Battery R.F.A. The Boers, however, had also been reinforced, +and showed great energy in their effort to break the cordon which was +being drawn round them. Upon the 4th a determined effort was made by +about a thousand of them under General Schoeman to turn the left flank +of the British, and at dawn it was actually found that they had eluded +the vigilance of the outposts and had established themselves upon a hill +to the rear of the position. They were shelled off of it, however, by +the guns of O Battery, and in their retreat across the plain they were +pursued by the 10th Hussars and by one squadron of the Inniskillings, +who cut off some of the fugitives. At the same time, De Lisle with his +mounted infantry carried the position which they had originally held. In +this successful and well-managed action the Boer loss was ninety, and we +took in addition twenty-one prisoners. Our own casualties amounted +only to six killed, including Major Harvey of the 10th, and to fifteen +wounded. + +Encouraged by this success an attempt was made by the Suffolk Regiment +to carry a hill which formed the key of the enemy's position. The town +of Colesberg lies in a basin surrounded by a ring of kopjes, and the +possession by us of any one of them would have made the place untenable. +The plan has been ascribed to Colonel Watson of the Suffolks, but it +is time that some protest should be raised against this devolution of +responsibility upon subordinates in the event of failure. When success +has crowned our arms we have been delighted to honour our general; +but when our efforts end in failure our attention is called to Colonel +Watson, Colonel Long, or Colonel Thorneycroft. It is fairer to state +that in this instance General French ordered Colonel Watson to make a +night attack upon the hill. + +The result was disastrous. At midnight four companies in canvas shoes +or in their stocking feet set forth upon their venture, and just before +dawn they found themselves upon the slope of the hill. They were in a +formation of quarter column with files extended to two paces; H Company +was leading. When half-way up a warm fire was opened upon them in the +darkness. Colonel Watson gave the order to retire, intending, as it is +believed, that the men should get under the shelter of the dead ground +which they had just quitted, but his death immediately afterwards left +matters in a confused condition. The night was black, the ground broken, +a hail of bullets whizzing through the ranks. Companies got mixed in the +darkness and contradictory orders were issued. The leading company held +its ground, though each of the officers, Brett, Carey, and Butler, was +struck down. The other companies had retired, however, and the dawn +found this fringe of men, most of them wounded, lying under the very +rifles of the Boers. Even then they held out for some time, but they +could neither advance, retire, or stay where they were without losing +lives to no purpose, so the survivors were compelled to surrender. There +is better evidence here than at Magersfontein that the enemy were warned +and ready. Every one of the officers engaged, from the Colonel to the +boy subaltern, was killed, wounded, or taken. Eleven officers and +one hundred and fifty men were our losses in this unfortunate but not +discreditable affair, which proves once more how much accuracy and how +much secrecy is necessary for a successful night attack. Four companies +of the regiment were sent down to Port Elizabeth to re-officer, but the +arrival of the 1st Essex enabled French to fill the gap which had been +made in his force. + +In spite of this annoying check, French continued to pursue his original +design of holding the enemy in front and working round him on the east. +On January 9th, Porter, of the Carabineers, with his own regiment, two +squadrons of Household Cavalry, the New Zealanders, the New South Wales +Lancers, and four guns, took another step forward and, after a skirmish, +occupied a position called Slingersfontein, still further to the north +and east, so as to menace the main road of retreat to Norval's Pont. +Some skirmishing followed, but the position was maintained. On the 15th +the Boers, thinking that this long extension must have weakened us, made +a spirited attack upon a position held by New Zealanders and a company +of the 1st Yorkshires, this regiment having been sent up to reinforce +French. The attempt was met by a volley and a bayonet charge. Captain +Orr, of the Yorkshires, was struck down; but Captain Madocks, of the +New Zealanders, who behaved with conspicuous gallantry at a critical +instant, took command, and the enemy was heavily repulsed. Madocks +engaged in a point-blank rifle duel with the frock-coated top-hatted +Boer leader, and had the good fortune to kill his formidable opponent. +Twenty-one Boer dead and many wounded left upon the field made a small +set-off to the disaster of the Suffolks. + +The next day, however (January 16th), the scales of fortune, which swung +alternately one way and the other, were again tipped against us. It +is difficult to give an intelligible account of the details of these +operations, because they were carried out by thin fringes of men +covering on both sides a very large area, each kopje occupied as a fort, +and the intervening plains patrolled by cavalry. + +As French extended to the east and north the Boers extended also to +prevent him from outflanking them, and so the little armies stretched +and stretched until they were two long mobile skirmishing lines. The +actions therefore resolve themselves into the encounters of small +bodies and the snapping up of exposed patrols--a game in which the Boer +aptitude for guerrilla tactics gave them some advantage, though our +own cavalry quickly adapted themselves to the new conditions. On this +occasion a patrol of sixteen men from the South Australian Horse and New +South Wales Lancers fell into an ambush, and eleven were captured. Of +the remainder, three made their way back to camp, while one was killed +and one was wounded. + +The duel between French on the one side and Schoeman and Lambert on the +other was from this onwards one of maneuvering rather than of fighting. +The dangerously extended line of the British at this period, over thirty +miles long, was reinforced, as has been mentioned, by the 1st Yorkshire +and later by the 2nd Wiltshire and a section of the 37th Howitzer +Battery. There was probably no very great difference in numbers between +the two little armies, but the Boers now, as always, were working +upon internal lines. The monotony of the operations was broken by the +remarkable feat of the Essex Regiment, which succeeded by hawsers and +good-will in getting two 15-pounder guns of the 4th Field Battery on to +the top of Coleskop, a hill which rises several hundred feet from the +plain and is so precipitous that it is no small task for an unhampered +man to climb it. From the summit a fire, which for some days could not +be localised by the Boers, was opened upon their laagers, which had to +be shifted in consequence. This energetic action upon the part of our +gunners may be set off against those other examples where commanders +of batteries have shown that they had not yet appreciated what strong +tackle and stout arms can accomplish. The guns upon Coleskop not +only dominated all the smaller kopjes for a range of 9000 yards, but +completely commanded the town of Colesberg, which could not however, for +humanitarian and political reasons, be shelled. + +By gradual reinforcements the force under French had by the end of +January attained the respectable figure of ten thousand men, strung over +a large extent of country. His infantry consisted of the 2nd Berkshires, +1st Royal Irish, 2nd Wiltshires, 2nd Worcesters, 1st Essex, and 1st +Yorkshires; his cavalry, of the 10th Hussars, the 6th Dragoon Guards, +the Inniskillings, the New Zealanders, the N.S. W. Lancers, some +Rimington Guides, and the composite Household Regiment; his artillery, +the R and O batteries of R.H.A., the 4th R.F.A., and a section of the +37th Howitzer Battery. At the risk of tedium I have repeated the units +of this force, because there are no operations during the war, with the +exception perhaps of those of the Rhodesian Column, concerning which it +is so difficult to get a clear impression. The fluctuating forces, the +vast range of country covered, and the petty farms which give their +names to positions, all tend to make the issue vague and the narrative +obscure. The British still lay in a semicircle extending from +Slingersfontein upon the right to Kloof Camp upon the left, and the +general scheme of operations continued to be an enveloping movement upon +the right. General Clements commanded this section of the forces, while +the energetic Porter carried out the successive advances. The lines had +gradually stretched until they were nearly fifty miles in length, and +something of the obscurity in which the operations have been left is due +to the impossibility of any single correspondent having a clear idea of +what was occurring over so extended a front. + +On January 25th French sent Stephenson and Brabazon to push a +reconnaissance to the north of Colesberg, and found that the Boers were +making a fresh position at Rietfontein, nine miles nearer their own +border. A small action ensued, in which we lost ten or twelve of +the Wiltshire Regiment, and gained some knowledge of the enemy's +dispositions. For the remainder of the month the two forces remained +in a state of equilibrium, each keenly on its guard, and neither strong +enough to penetrate the lines of the other. General French descended to +Cape Town to aid General Roberts in the elaboration of that plan which +was soon to change the whole military situation in South Africa. + +Reinforcements were still dribbling into the British force, Hoad's +Australian Regiment, which had been changed from infantry to cavalry, +and J battery R.H.A. from India, being the last arrivals. But very much +stronger reinforcements had arrived for the Boers--so strong that they +were able to take the offensive. De la Rey had left the Modder with +three thousand men, and their presence infused new life into the +defenders of Colesberg. At the moment, too, that the Modder Boers +were coming to Colesberg, the British had begun to send cavalry +reinforcements to the Modder in preparation for the march to Kimberley, +so that Clements's Force (as it had now become) was depleted at the very +instant when that of the enemy was largely increased. The result was +that it was all they could do not merely to hold their own, but to avoid +a very serious disaster. + +The movements of De la Rey were directed towards turning the right of +the position. On February 9th and 10th the mounted patrols, principally +the Tasmanians, the Australians, and the Inniskillings, came in contact +with the Boers, and some skirmishing ensued, with no heavy loss upon +either side. A British patrol was surrounded and lost eleven prisoners, +Tasmanians and Guides. On the 12th the Boer turning movement developed +itself, and our position on the right at Slingersfontein was strongly +attacked. + +The key of the British position at this point was a kopje held by three +companies of the 2nd Worcester Regiment. Upon this the Boers made a +fierce onslaught, but were as fiercely repelled. They came up in the +dark between the set of moon and rise of sun, as they had done at the +great assault of Ladysmith, and the first dim light saw them in the +advanced sangars. The Boer generals do not favour night attacks, +but they are exceedingly fond of using darkness for taking up a good +position and pushing onwards as soon as it is possible to see. This is +what they did upon this occasion, and the first intimation which the +outposts had of their presence was the rush of feet and loom of figures +in the cold misty light of dawn. The occupants of the sangars were +killed to a man, and the assailants rushed onwards. As the sun topped +the line of the veld half the kopje was in their possession. Shouting +and firing, they pressed onwards. + +But the Worcester men were steady old soldiers, and the battalion +contained no less than four hundred and fifty marksmen in its ranks. Of +these the companies upon the hill had their due proportion, and their +fire was so accurate that the Boers found themselves unable to advance +any further. Through the long day a desperate duel was maintained +between the two lines of riflemen. Colonel Cuningham and Major Stubbs +were killed while endeavouring to recover the ground which had been +lost. Hovel and Bartholomew continued to encourage their men, and the +British fire became so deadly that that of the Boers was dominated. +Under the direction of Hacket Pain, who commanded the nearest post, guns +of J battery were brought out into the open and shelled the portion of +the kopje which was held by the Boers. The latter were reinforced, but +could make no advance against the accurate rifle fire with which they +were met. The Bisley champion of the battalion, with a bullet through +his thigh, expended a hundred rounds before sinking from loss of blood. +It was an excellent defence, and a pleasing exception to those too +frequent cases where an isolated force has lost heart in face of a +numerous and persistent foe. With the coming of darkness the Boers +withdrew with a loss of over two hundred killed and wounded. Orders had +come from Clements that the whole right wing should be drawn in, and in +obedience to them the remains of the victorious companies were called +in by Hacket Pain, who moved his force by night in the direction of +Rensburg. The British loss in the action was twenty-eight killed and +nearly a hundred wounded or missing, most of which was incurred when the +sangars were rushed in the early morning. + +While this action was fought upon the extreme right of the British +position another as severe had occurred with much the same result upon +the extreme left, where the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment was stationed. Some +companies of this regiment were isolated upon a kopje and surrounded +by the Boer riflemen when the pressure upon them was relieved by a +desperate attack by about a hundred of the Victorian Rifles. The gallant +Australians lost Major Eddy and six officers out of seven, with a large +proportion of their men, but they proved once for all that amid all the +scattered nations who came from the same home there is not one with a +more fiery courage and a higher sense of martial duty than the men from +the great island continent. It is the misfortune of the historian when +dealing with these contingents that, as a rule, by their very nature +they were employed in detached parties in fulfilling the duties which +fall to the lot of scouts and light cavalry--duties which fill the +casualty lists but not the pages of the chronicler. Be it said, however, +once for all that throughout the whole African army there was nothing +but the utmost admiration for the dash and spirit of the hard-riding, +straight-shooting sons of Australia and New Zealand. In a host which +held many brave men there were none braver than they. + +It was evident from this time onwards that the turning movement had +failed, and that the enemy had developed such strength that we were +ourselves in imminent danger of being turned. The situation was a most +serious one: for if Clements's force could be brushed aside there would +be nothing to keep the enemy from cutting the communications of the army +which Roberts had assembled for his march into the Free State. Clements +drew in his wings hurriedly and concentrated his whole force at +Rensburg. It was a difficult operation in the face of an aggressive +enemy, but the movements were well timed and admirably carried out. +There is always the possibility of a retreat degenerating into a panic, +and a panic at that moment would have been a most serious matter. +One misfortune occurred, through which two companies of the Wiltshire +regiment were left without definite orders, and were cut off and +captured after a resistance in which a third of their number was killed +and wounded. No man in that trying time worked harder than Colonel +Carter of the Wiltshires (the night of the retreat was the sixth which +he had spent without sleep), and the loss of the two companies is to be +set down to one of those accidents which may always occur in warfare. +Some of the Inniskilling Dragoons and Victorian Mounted Rifles were also +cut off in the retreat, but on the whole Clements was very fortunate in +being able to concentrate his scattered army with so few mishaps. The +withdrawal was heartbreaking to the soldiers who had worked so hard and +so long in extending the lines, but it might be regarded with equanimity +by the Generals, who understood that the greater strength the enemy +developed at Colesberg the less they would have to oppose the critical +movements which were about to be carried out in the west. Meanwhile +Coleskop had also been abandoned, the guns removed, and the whole force +on February 14th passed through Rensburg and fell back upon Arundel, the +spot from which six weeks earlier French had started upon this stirring +series of operations. It would not be fair, however, to suppose that +they had failed because they ended where they began. Their primary +object had been to prevent the further advance of the Freestaters into +the colony, and, during the most critical period of the war, this +had been accomplished with much success and little loss. At last the +pressure had become so severe that the enemy had to weaken the most +essential part of their general position in order to relieve it. The +object of the operations had really been attained when Clements found +himself back at Arundel once more. French, the stormy petrel of the war, +had flitted on from Cape Town to Modder River, where a larger prize +than Colesberg awaited him. Clements continued to cover Naauwport, the +important railway junction, until the advance of Roberts's army caused a +complete reversal of the whole military situation. + + + +CHAPTER 15. SPION KOP. + +Whilst Methuen and Gatacre were content to hold their own at the Modder +and at Sterkstroom, and whilst the mobile and energetic French was +herding the Boers into Colesberg, Sir Redvers Buller, the heavy, +obdurate, inexplicable man, was gathering and organising his forces for +another advance upon Ladysmith. Nearly a month had elapsed since the +evil day when his infantry had retired, and his ten guns had not, +from the frontal attack upon Colenso. Since then Sir Charles Warren's +division of infantry and a considerable reinforcement of artillery had +come to him. And yet in view of the terrible nature of the ground in +front of him, of the fighting power of the Boers, and of the fact that +they were always acting upon internal lines, his force even now was, in +the opinion of competent judges, too weak for the matter in hand. + +There remained, however, several points in his favour. His excellent +infantry were full of zeal and of confidence in their chief. It cannot +be denied, however much we may criticise some incidents in his campaign, +that he possessed the gift of impressing and encouraging his followers, +and, in spite of Colenso, the sight of his square figure and heavy +impassive face conveyed an assurance of ultimate victory to those around +him. In artillery he was very much stronger than before, especially in +weight of metal. His cavalry was still weak in proportion to his other +arms. When at last he moved out on January 10th to attempt to outflank +the Boers, he took with him nineteen thousand infantry, three thousand +cavalry, and sixty guns, which included six howitzers capable of +throwing a 50-pound lyddite shell, and ten long-range naval pieces. +Barton's Brigade and other troops were left behind to hold the base and +line of communications. + +An analysis of Buller's force shows that its details were as follows:-- + + Clery's Division. + Hildyard's Brigade. + 2nd West Surrey. + 2nd Devonshire. + 2nd West Yorkshire. + 2nd East Surrey. + Hart's Brigade. + 1st Inniskilling Fusiliers. + 1st Border Regiment. + 1st Connaught Rangers. + 2nd Dublin Fusiliers. + Field Artillery, three batteries, 19th, 28th, 63rd; one squadron + 13th Hussars; Royal Engineers. + + Warren's Division. + Lyttelton's Brigade. + 2nd Cameronians. + 3rd King's Royal Rifles. + 1st Durham Light Infantry. + 1st Rifle Brigade. + Woodgate's Brigade. + 2nd Royal Lancaster. + 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers. + 1st South Lancashire. + York and Lancasters. + Field Artillery, three batteries, 7th, 78th, 73rd; one squadron + 13th Hussars. + + Corps Troops. + Coke's Brigade. + Imperial Light Infantry. + 2nd Somersets. + 2nd Dorsets. + 2nd Middlesex. + 61st Howitzer Battery; two 4.7 naval guns; eight naval 12-pounder guns; + one squadron 13th Hussars; Royal Engineers. + + Cavalry. + 1st Royal Dragoons. + 14th Hussars. + Four squadrons South African Horse. + One squadron Imperial Light Horse. + Bethune's Mounted Infantry. + Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry. + One squadron Natal Carabineers. + One squadron Natal Police. + One company King's Royal Rifles Mounted Infantry. + Six machine guns. + +This is the force whose operations I shall attempt to describe. + +About sixteen miles to the westward of Colenso there is a ford over +the Tugela River which is called Potgieter's Drift. General Buller's +apparent plan was to seize this, together with the ferry which runs at +this point, and so to throw himself upon the right flank of the Colenso +Boers. Once over the river there is one formidable line of hills to +cross, but if this were passed there would be comparatively easy ground +until the Ladysmith hills were reached. With high hopes Buller and his +men sallied out upon their adventure. + +Dundonald's cavalry force pushed rapidly forwards, crossed the Little +Tugela, a tributary of the main river, at Springfield, and established +themselves upon the hills which command the drift. Dundonald largely +exceeded his instructions in going so far, and while we applaud his +courage and judgment in doing so, we must remember and be charitable +to those less fortunate officers whose private enterprise has ended in +disaster and reproof. There can be no doubt that the enemy intended to +hold all this tract, and that it was only the quickness of our initial +movements which forestalled them. Early in the morning a small party of +the South African Horse, under Lieutenant Carlisle, swam the broad river +under fire and brought back the ferry boat, an enterprise which was +fortunately bloodless, but which was most coolly planned and gallantly +carried out. The way was now open to our advance, and could it have been +carried out as rapidly as it had begun the Boers might conceivably have +been scattered before they could concentrate. It was not the fault of +the infantry that it was not so. They were trudging, mud-spattered and +jovial, at the very heels of the horses, after a forced march which was +one of the most trying of the whole campaign. But an army of 20,000 +men cannot be conveyed over a river twenty miles from any base without +elaborate preparations being made to feed them. The roads were in such a +state that the wagons could hardly move, heavy rain had just fallen, +and every stream was swollen into a river; bullocks might strain, and +traction engines pant, and horses die, but by no human means could the +stores be kept up if the advance guard were allowed to go at their own +pace. And so, having ensured an ultimate crossing of the river by the +seizure of Mount Alice, the high hill which commands the drift, the +forces waited day after day, watching in the distance the swarms of +strenuous dark figures who dug and hauled and worked upon the hillsides +opposite, barring the road which they would have to take. Far away on +the horizon a little shining point twinkled amid the purple haze, coming +and going from morning to night. It was the heliograph of Ladysmith, +explaining her troubles and calling for help, and from the heights of +Mount Alice an answering star of hope glimmered and shone, soothing, +encouraging, explaining, while the stern men of the veld dug furiously +at their trenches in between. 'We are coming! We are coming!' cried +Mount Alice. 'Over our bodies,' said the men with the spades and +mattocks. + +On Thursday, January 12th, Dundonald seized the heights, on the 13th the +ferry was taken and Lyttelton's Brigade came up to secure that which the +cavalry had gained. On the 14th the heavy naval guns were brought up +to cover the crossing. On the 15th Coke's Brigade and other infantry +concentrated at the drift. On the 16th the four regiments of Lyttelton's +Brigade went across, and then, and only then, it began to be apparent +that Buller's plan was a more deeply laid one than had been thought, and +that all this business of Potgieter's Drift was really a demonstration +in order to cover the actual crossing which was to be effected at a +ford named Trichard's Drift, five miles to the westward. Thus, +while Lyttelton's and Coke's Brigades were ostentatiously attacking +Potgieter's from in front, three other brigades (Hart's, Woodgate's, and +Hildyard's) were marched rapidly on the night of the 16th to the real +place of crossing, to which Dundonald's cavalry had already ridden. +There, on the 17th, a pontoon bridge had been erected, and a strong +force was thrown over in such a way as to turn the right of the trenches +in front of Potgieter's. It was admirably planned and excellently +carried out, certainly the most strategic movement, if there could be +said to have been any strategic movement upon the British side, in the +campaign up to that date. On the 18th the infantry, the cavalry, and +most of the guns were safely across without loss of life. The Boers, +however, still retained their formidable internal lines, and the only +result of a change of position seemed to be to put them to the trouble +of building a new series of those terrible entrenchments at which they +had become such experts. After all the combinations the British were, +it is true, upon the right side of the river, but they were considerably +further from Ladysmith than when they started. There are times, however, +when twenty miles are less than fourteen, and it was hoped that this +might prove to be among them. But the first step was the most serious +one, for right across their front lay the Boer position upon the edge of +a lofty plateau, with the high peak of Spion Kop forming the left corner +of it. If once that main ridge could be captured or commanded, it would +carry them halfway to the goal. It was for that essential line of hills +that two of the most dogged races upon earth were about to contend. An +immediate advance might have secured the position at once, but, for some +reason which is inexplicable, an aimless march to the left was followed +by a retirement to the original position of Warren's division, and +so two invaluable days were wasted. We have the positive assurance of +Commandant Edwards, who was Chief of Staff to General Botha, that +a vigorous turning movement upon the left would at this time have +completely outflanked the Boer position and opened a way to Ladysmith. + +A small success, the more welcome for its rarity, came to the British +arms on this first day. Dundonald's men had been thrown out to cover +the left of the infantry advance and to feel for the right of the Boer +position. A strong Boer patrol, caught napping for once, rode into an +ambuscade of the irregulars. Some escaped, some held out most gallantly +in a kopje, but the final result was a surrender of twenty-four +unwounded prisoners, and the finding of thirteen killed and wounded, +including de Mentz, the field-cornet of Heilbron. Two killed and two +wounded were the British losses in this well-managed affair. Dundonald's +force then took its position upon the extreme left of Warren's advance. + +The British were now moving upon the Boers in two separate bodies, the +one which included Lyttelton's and Coke's Brigades from Potgieter's +Drift, making what was really a frontal attack, while the main body +under Warren, who had crossed at Trichard's Drift, was swinging round +upon the Boer right. Midway between the two movements the formidable +bastion of Spion Kop stood clearly outlined against the blue Natal +sky. The heavy naval guns on Mount Alice (two 4.7's and eight +twelve-pounders) were so placed as to support either advance, and the +howitzer battery was given to Lyttelton to help the frontal attack. For +two days the British pressed slowly but steadily on to the Boers under +the cover of an incessant rain of shells. Dour and long-suffering the +Boers made no reply, save with sporadic rifle-fire, and refused until +the crisis should come to expose their great guns to the chance of +injury. + +On January 19th Warren's turning movement began to bring him into closer +touch with the enemy, his thirty-six field guns and the six howitzers +which had returned to him crushing down the opposition which faced him. +The ground in front of him was pleated into long folds, and his advance +meant the carrying of ridge after ridge. In the earlier stages of the +war this would have entailed a murderous loss; but we had learned our +lesson, and the infantry now, with intervals of ten paces, and every man +choosing his own cover, went up in proper Boer form, carrying position +after position, the enemy always retiring with dignity and decorum. +There was no victory on one side or rout on the other--only a steady +advance and an orderly retirement. That night the infantry slept in +their fighting line, going on again at three in the morning, and light +broke to find not only rifles, but the long-silent Boer guns all blazing +at the British advance. Again, as at Colenso, the brunt of the fighting +fell upon Hart's Irish Brigade, who upheld that immemorial tradition of +valour with which that name, either in or out of the British service, +has invariably been associated. Upon the Lancashire Fusiliers and the +York and Lancasters came also a large share of the losses and the glory. +Slowly but surely the inexorable line of the British lapped over the +ground which the enemy had held. A gallant colonial, Tobin of the South +African Horse, rode up one hill and signaled with his hat that it was +clear. His comrades followed closely at his heels, and occupied the +position with the loss of Childe, their Major. During this action +Lyttelton had held the Boers in their trenches opposite to him by +advancing to within 1500 yards of them, but the attack was not pushed +further. On the evening of this day, January 20th, the British had +gained some miles of ground, and the total losses had been about three +hundred killed and wounded. The troops were in good heart, and all +promised well for the future. Again the men lay where they had fought, +and again the dawn heard the crash of the great guns and the rattle of +the musketry. + +The operations of this day began with a sustained cannonade from +the field batteries and 61st Howitzer Battery, which was as fiercely +answered by the enemy. About eleven the infantry began to go forward +with an advance which would have astonished the martinets of Aldershot, +an irregular fringe of crawlers, wrigglers, writhers, crouchers, all +cool and deliberate, giving away no points in this grim game of death. +Where now were the officers with their distinctive dresses and flashing +swords, where the valiant rushes over the open, where the men who +were too proud to lie down?--the tactics of three months ago seemed +as obsolete as those of the Middle Ages. All day the line undulated +forward, and by evening yet another strip of rock-strewn ground had been +gained, and yet another train of ambulances was bearing a hundred of +our wounded back to the base hospitals at Frere. It was on Hildyard's +Brigade on the left that the fighting and the losses of this day +principally fell. By the morning of January 22nd the regiments were +clustering thickly all round the edges of the Boer main position, and +the day was spent in resting the weary men, and in determining at +what point the final assault should be delivered. On the right front, +commanding the Boer lines on either side, towered the stark eminence of +Spion Kop, so called because from its summit the Boer voortrekkers had +first in 1835 gazed down upon the promised land of Natal. If that could +only be seized and held! Buller and Warren swept its bald summit with +their field-glasses. It was a venture. But all war is a venture; and the +brave man is he who ventures most. One fiery rush and the master-key of +all these locked doors might be in our keeping. That evening there +came a telegram to London which left the whole Empire in a hush of +anticipation. Spion Kop was to be attacked that night. + +The troops which were selected for the task were eight companies of the +2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, six of the 2nd Royal Lancasters, two of the +1st South Lancashires, 180 of Thorneycroft's, and half a company of +Sappers. It was to be a North of England job. + +Under the friendly cover of a starless night the men, in Indian file, +like a party of Iroquois braves upon the war trail, stole up the winding +and ill-defined path which led to the summit. Woodgate, the Lancashire +Brigadier, and Blomfield of the Fusiliers led the way. It was a severe +climb of 2000 feet, coming after arduous work over broken ground, +but the affair was well-timed, and it was at that blackest hour which +precedes the dawn that the last steep ascent was reached. The Fusiliers +crouched down among the rocks to recover their breath, and saw far down +in the plain beneath them the placid lights which showed where their +comrades were resting. A fine rain was falling, and rolling clouds hung +low over their heads. The men with unloaded rifles and fixed bayonets +stole on once more, their bodies bent, their eyes peering through the +mirk for the first sign of the enemy--that enemy whose first sign has +usually been a shattering volley. Thorneycroft's men with their gallant +leader had threaded their way up into the advance. Then the leading +files found that they were walking on the level. The crest had been +gained. + +With slow steps and bated breath, the open line of skirmishers stole +across it. Was it possible that it had been entirely abandoned? Suddenly +a raucous shout of 'Wie da?' came out of the darkness, then a shot, then +a splutter of musketry and a yell, as the Fusiliers sprang onwards +with their bayonets. The Boer post of Vryheid burghers clattered and +scrambled away into the darkness, and a cheer that roused both the +sleeping armies told that the surprise had been complete and the +position won. + +In the grey light of the breaking day the men advanced along the narrow +undulating ridge, the prominent end of which they had captured. Another +trench faced them, but it was weakly held and abandoned. Then the men, +uncertain what remained beyond, halted and waited for full light to see +where they were, and what the work was which lay before them--a fatal +halt, as the result proved, and yet one so natural that it is hard to +blame the officer who ordered it. Indeed, he might have seemed more +culpable had he pushed blindly on, and so lost the advantage which had +been already gained. + +About eight o'clock, with the clearing of the mist, General Woodgate saw +how matters stood. The ridge, one end of which he held, extended away, +rising and falling for some miles. Had he the whole of the end plateau, +and had he guns, he might hope to command the rest of the position. But +he held only half the plateau, and at the further end of it the Boers +were strongly entrenched. The Spion Kop mountain was really the salient +or sharp angle of the Boer position, so that the British were exposed to +a cross fire both from the left and right. Beyond were other eminences +which sheltered strings of riflemen and several guns. The plateau which +the British held was very much narrower than was usually represented in +the press. In many places the possible front was not much more than a +hundred yards wide, and the troops were compelled to bunch together, as +there was not room for a single company to take an extended formation. +The cover upon this plateau was scanty, far too scanty for the force +upon it, and the shell fire--especially the fire of the pom-poms--soon +became very murderous. To mass the troops under the cover of the edge +of the plateau might naturally suggest itself, but with great tactical +skill the Boer advanced line from Commandant Prinsloo's Heidelberg and +Carolina commandos kept so aggressive an attitude that the British could +not weaken the lines opposed to them. Their skirmishers were creeping +round too in such a way that the fire was really coming from three +separate points, left, centre, and right, and every corner of the +position was searched by their bullets. Early in the action the gallant +Woodgate and many of his Lancashire men were shot down. The others +spread out and held on, firing occasionally at the whisk of a +rifle-barrel or the glimpse of a broad-brimmed hat. + +From morning to midday, the shell, Maxim, and rifle fire swept across +the kop in a continual driving shower. The British guns in the plain +below failed to localise the position of the enemy's, and they were able +to vent their concentrated spite upon the exposed infantry. No blame +attaches to the gunners for this, as a hill intervened to screen the +Boer artillery, which consisted of five big guns and two pom-poms. + +Upon the fall of Woodgate, Thorneycroft, who bore the reputation of a +determined fighter, was placed at the suggestion of Buller in charge +of the defence of the hill, and he was reinforced after noon by Coke's +brigade, the Middlesex, the Dorsets, and the Somersets, together with +the Imperial Light Infantry. The addition of this force to the defenders +of the plateau tended to increase the casualty returns rather than the +strength of the defence. Three thousand more rifles could do nothing to +check the fire of the invisible cannon, and it was this which was the +main source of the losses, while on the other hand the plateau had +become so cumbered with troops that a shell could hardly fail to do +damage. There was no cover to shelter them and no room for them to +extend. The pressure was most severe upon the shallow trenches in +the front, which had been abandoned by the Boers and were held by the +Lancashire Fusiliers. They were enfiladed by rifle and cannon, and the +dead and wounded outnumbered the hale. So close were the skirmishers +that on at least one occasion Boer and Briton found themselves on +each side of the same rock. Once a handful of men, tormented +beyond endurance, sprang up as a sign that they had had enough, but +Thorneycroft, a man of huge physique, rushed forward to the advancing +Boers. 'You may go to hell!' he yelled. 'I command here, and allow no +surrender. Go on with your firing.' Nothing could exceed the gallantry +of Louis Botha's men in pushing the attack. Again and again they made +their way up to the British firing line, exposing themselves with +a recklessness which, with the exception of the grand attack upon +Ladysmith, was unique in our experience of them. About two o'clock they +rushed one trench occupied by the Fusiliers and secured the survivors +of two companies as prisoners, but were subsequently driven out again. A +detached group of the South Lancashires was summoned to surrender. 'When +I surrender,' cried Colour-Sergeant Nolan, 'it will be my dead body!' +Hour after hour of the unintermitting crash of the shells among the +rocks and of the groans and screams of men torn and burst by the most +horrible of all wounds had shaken the troops badly. Spectators from +below who saw the shells pitching at the rate of seven a minute on to +the crowded plateau marvelled at the endurance which held the devoted +men to their post. Men were wounded and wounded and wounded yet again, +and still went on fighting. Never since Inkerman had we had so grim a +soldier's battle. The company officers were superb. Captain Muriel of +the Middlesex was shot through the check while giving a cigarette to a +wounded man, continued to lead his company, and was shot again through +the brain. Scott Moncrieff of the same regiment was only disabled by the +fourth bullet which hit him. Grenfell of Thorneycroft's was shot, and +exclaimed, 'That's all right. It's not much.' A second wound made him +remark, 'I can get on all right.' The third killed him. Ross of the +Lancasters, who had crawled from a sickbed, was found dead upon the +furthest crest. Young Murray of the Scottish Rifles, dripping from five +wounds, still staggered about among his men. And the men were worthy of +such officers. 'No retreat! No retreat!' they yelled when some of the +front line were driven in. In all regiments there are weaklings and +hang-backs, and many a man was wandering down the reverse slopes when he +should have been facing death upon the top, but as a body British troops +have never stood firm through a more fiery ordeal than on that fatal +hill... + +The position was so bad that no efforts of officers or men could do +anything to mend it. They were in a murderous dilemma. If they fell back +for cover the Boer riflemen would rush the position. If they held their +ground this horrible shell fire must continue, which they had no means +of answering. Down at Gun Hill in front of the Boer position we had no +fewer than five batteries, the 78th, 7th, 73rd, 63rd, and 61st howitzer, +but a ridge intervened between them and the Boer guns which were +shelling Spion Kop, and this ridge was strongly entrenched. The naval +guns from distant Mount Alice did what they could, but the range was +very long, and the position of the Boer guns uncertain. The artillery, +situated as it was, could not save the infantry from the horrible +scourging which they were enduring. + +There remains the debated question whether the British guns could have +been taken to the top. Mr. Winston Churchill, the soundness of whose +judgment has been frequently demonstrated during the war, asserts that +it might have been done. Without venturing to contradict one who was +personally present, I venture to think that there is strong evidence +to show that it could not have been done without blasting and other +measures, for which there was no possible time. Captain Hanwell of the +78th R.F.A., upon the day of the battle had the very utmost difficulty +with the help of four horses in getting a light Maxim on to the top, and +his opinion, with that of other artillery officers, is that the feat +was an impossible one until the path had been prepared. When night fell +Colonel Sim was despatched with a party of Sappers to clear the track +and to prepare two emplacements upon the top, but in his advance he met +the retiring infantry. + +Throughout the day reinforcements had pushed up the hill, until two full +brigades had been drawn into the fight. From the other side of the ridge +Lyttelton sent up the Scottish Rifles, who reached the summit, and added +their share to the shambles upon the top. As the shades of night closed +in, and the glare of the bursting shells became more lurid, the men +lay extended upon the rocky ground, parched and exhausted. They were +hopelessly jumbled together, with the exception of the Dorsets, whose +cohesion may have been due to superior discipline, less exposure, or to +the fact that their khaki differed somewhat in colour from that of the +others. Twelve hours of so terrible an experience had had a strange +effect upon many of the men. Some were dazed and battle-struck, +incapable of clear understanding. Some were as incoherent as drunkards. +Some lay in an overpowering drowsiness. The most were doggedly patient +and long-suffering, with a mighty longing for water obliterating every +other emotion. + +Before evening fell a most gallant and successful attempt had been +made by the third battalion of the King's Royal Rifles from Lyttelton's +Brigade to relieve the pressure upon their comrades on Spion Kop. In +order to draw part of the Boer fire away they ascended from the northern +side and carried the hills which formed a continuation of the same +ridge. The movement was meant to be no more than a strong demonstration, +but the riflemen pushed it until, breathless but victorious, they stood +upon the very crest of the position, leaving nearly a hundred dead or +dying to show the path which they had taken. Their advance being much +further than was desired, they were recalled, and it was at the moment +that Buchanan Riddell, their brave Colonel, stood up to read Lyttelton's +note that he fell with a Boer bullet through his brain, making one more +of those gallant leaders who died as they had lived, at the head of +their regiments. Chisholm, Dick-Cunyngham, Downman, Wilford, Gunning, +Sherston, Thackeray, Sitwell, MacCarthy O'Leary, Airlie--they have led +their men up to and through the gates of death. It was a fine exploit +of the 3rd Rifles. 'A finer bit of skirmishing, a finer bit of climbing, +and a finer bit of fighting, I have never seen,' said their Brigadier. +It is certain that if Lyttelton had not thrown his two regiments into +the fight the pressure upon the hill-top might have become unendurable; +and it seems also certain that if he had only held on to the position +which the Rifles had gained, the Boers would never have reoccupied Spion +Kop. + +And now, under the shadow of night, but with the shells bursting thickly +over the plateau, the much-tried Thorneycroft had to make up his mind +whether he should hold on for another such day as he had endured, or +whether now, in the friendly darkness, he should remove his shattered +force. Could he have seen the discouragement of the Boers and the +preparations which they had made for retirement, he would have held his +ground. But this was hidden from him, while the horror of his own losses +was but too apparent. Forty per cent of his men were down. Thirteen +hundred dead and dying are a grim sight upon a wide-spread battle-field, +but when this number is heaped upon a confined space, where from a +single high rock the whole litter of broken and shattered bodies can be +seen, and the groans of the stricken rise in one long droning chorus to +the ear, then it is an iron mind indeed which can resist such evidence +of disaster. In a harder age Wellington was able to survey four thousand +bodies piled in the narrow compass of the breach of Badajos, but his +resolution was sustained by the knowledge that the military end for +which they fell had been accomplished. Had his task been unfinished it +is doubtful whether even his steadfast soul would not have flinched from +its completion. Thorneycroft saw the frightful havoc of one day, and he +shrank from the thought of such another. 'Better six battalions safely +down the hill than a mop up in the morning,' said he, and he gave the +word to retire. One who had met the troops as they staggered down +has told me how far they were from being routed. In mixed array, but +steadily and in order, the long thin line trudged through the darkness. +Their parched lips would not articulate, but they whispered 'Water! +Where is water?' as they toiled upon their way. At the bottom of the +hill they formed into regiments once more, and marched back to the camp. +In the morning the blood-spattered hill-top, with its piles of dead and +of wounded, were in the hands of Botha and his men, whose valour and +perseverance deserved the victory which they had won. There is no doubt +now that at 3 A.M. of that morning Botha, knowing that the Rifles had +carried Burger's position, regarded the affair as hopeless, and that +no one was more astonished than he when he found, on the report of two +scouts, that it was a victory and not a defeat which had come to him. + +How shall we sum up such an action save that it was a gallant attempt, +gallantly carried out, and as gallantly met? On both sides the results +of artillery fire during the war have been disappointing, but at Spion +Kop beyond all question it was the Boer guns which won the action for +them. So keen was the disappointment at home that there was a tendency +to criticise the battle with some harshness, but it is difficult now, +with the evidence at our command, to say what was left undone which +could have altered the result. Had Thorneycroft known all that we know, +he would have kept his grip upon the hill. On the face of it one finds +it difficult to understand why so momentous a decision, upon which +the whole operations depended, should have been left entirely to the +judgment of one who in the morning had been a simple Lieutenant-Colonel. +'Where are the bosses?' cried a Fusilier, and the historian can only +repeat the question. General Warren was at the bottom of the hill. Had +he ascended and determined that the place should still be held, he might +have sent down the wearied troops, brought up smaller numbers of fresh +ones, ordered the Sappers to deepen the trenches, and tried to bring up +water and guns. It was for the divisional commander to lay his hand upon +the reins at so critical an instant, to relieve the weary man who had +struggled so hard all day. + +The subsequent publication of the official despatches has served little +purpose, save to show that there was a want of harmony between Buller +and Warren, and that the former lost all confidence in his subordinate +during the course of the operations. In these papers General Buller +expresses the opinion that had Warren's operations been more dashing, he +would have found his turning movement upon the left a comparatively easy +matter. In this judgment he would probably have the concurrence of +most military critics. He adds, however, 'On the 19th, I ought to have +assumed command myself. I saw that things were not going well--indeed, +everyone saw that. I blame myself now for not having done so. I did not, +because, if I did, I should discredit General Warren in the estimation +of the troops, and, if I were shot, and he had to withdraw across the +Tugela, and they had lost confidence in him, the consequences might be +very serious. I must leave it to higher authority whether this argument +was a sound one.' It needs no higher authority than common-sense to say +that the argument is an absolutely unsound one. No consequences could +be more serious than that the operations should miscarry and Ladysmith +remain unrelieved, and such want of success must in any case discredit +Warren in the eyes of his troops. Besides, a subordinate is not +discredited because his chief steps in to conduct a critical operation. +However, these personal controversies may be suffered to remain in that +pigeon-hole from which they should never have been drawn. + +On account of the crowding of four thousand troops into a space which +might have afforded tolerable cover for five hundred the losses in the +action were very heavy, not fewer than fifteen hundred being killed, +wounded, or missing, the proportion of killed being, on account of the +shell fire, abnormally high. The Lancashire Fusiliers were the heaviest +sufferers, and their Colonel Blomfield was wounded and fell into +the hands of the enemy. The Royal Lancasters also lost heavily. +Thorneycroft's had 80 men hit out of 180 engaged. The Imperial Light +Infantry, a raw corps of Rand refugees who were enduring their baptism +of fire, lost 130 men. In officers the losses were particularly heavy, +60 being killed or wounded. The Boer returns show some 50 killed and 150 +wounded, which may not be far from the truth. Without the shell fire the +British losses might not have been much more. + +General Buller had lost nearly two thousand men since he had crossed the +Tugela, and his purpose was still unfulfilled. Should he risk the loss +of a large part of his force in storming the ridges in front of him, or +should he recross the river and try for an easier route elsewhere? To +the surprise and disappointment both of the public and of the army, +he chose the latter course, and by January 27th he had fallen back, +unmolested by the Boers, to the other side of the Tugela. It must be +confessed that his retreat was admirably conducted, and that it was a +military feat to bring his men, his guns, and his stores in safety over +a broad river in the face of a victorious enemy. Stolid and unmoved, his +impenetrable demeanour restored serenity and confidence to the angry and +disappointed troops. There might well be heavy hearts among both them +and the public. After a fortnight's campaign, and the endurance of great +losses and hardships, both Ladysmith and her relievers found themselves +no better off than when they started. Buller still held the commanding +position of Mount Alice, and this was all that he had to show for such +sacrifices and such exertions. Once more there came a weary pause while +Ladysmith, sick with hope deferred, waited gloomily upon half-rations of +horse-flesh for the next movement from the South. + + + +CHAPTER 16. VAALKRANZ. + +Neither General Buller nor his troops appeared to be dismayed by the +failure of their plans, or by the heavy losses which were entailed by +the movement which culminated at Spion Kop. The soldiers grumbled, it +is true, at not being let go, and swore that even if it cost them +two-thirds of their number they could and would make their way through +this labyrinth of hills with its fringe of death. So doubtless they +might. But from first to last their General had shown a great--some +said an exaggerated--respect for human life, and he had no intention of +winning a path by mere slogging, if there were a chance of finding one +by less bloody means. On the morrow of his return he astonished both +his army and the Empire by announcing that he had found the key to the +position and that he hoped to be in Ladysmith in a week. Some rejoiced +in the assurance. Some shrugged their shoulders. Careless of friends or +foes, the stolid Buller proceeded to work out his new combination. + +In the next few days reinforcements trickled in which more than made up +for the losses of the preceding week. A battery of horse artillery, two +heavy guns, two squadrons of the 14th Hussars, and infantry drafts to +the number of twelve or fourteen hundred men came to share the impending +glory or disaster. On the morning of February 5th the army sallied forth +once more to have another try to win a way to Ladysmith. It was known +that enteric was rife in the town, that shell and bullet and typhoid +germ had struck down a terrible proportion of the garrison, and that the +rations of starved horse and commissariat mule were running low. With +their comrades--in many cases their linked battalions--in such straits +within fifteen miles of them, Buller's soldiers had high motives to +brace them for a supreme effort. + +The previous attempt had been upon the line immediately to the west of +Spion Kop. If, however, one were to follow to the east of Spion Kop, +one would come upon a high mountain called Doornkloof. Between these two +peaks, there lies a low ridge, called Brakfontein, and a small detached +hill named Vaalkranz. Buller's idea was that if he could seize this +small Vaalkranz, it would enable him to avoid the high ground altogether +and pass his troops through on to the plateau beyond. He still held the +Ford at Potgieter's and commanded the country beyond with heavy guns on +Mount Alice and at Swartz Kop, so that he could pass troops over at +his will. He would make a noisy demonstration against Brakfontein, then +suddenly seize Vaalkranz, and so, as he hoped, hold the outer door which +opened on to the passage to Ladysmith. + +The getting of the guns up Swartz Kop was a preliminary which was as +necessary as it was difficult. A road was cut, sailors, engineers, and +gunners worked with a will under the general direction of Majors Findlay +and Apsley Smith. A mountain battery, two field guns, and six naval +12-pounders were slung up by steel hawsers, the sailors yeo-hoing on the +halliards. The ammunition was taken up by hand. At six o'clock on the +morning of the 5th the other guns opened a furious and probably harmless +fire upon Brakfontein, Spion Kop, and all the Boer positions opposite +to them. Shortly afterwards the feigned attack upon Brakfontein was +commenced and was sustained with much fuss and appearance of energy +until all was ready for the development of the true one. Wynne's +Brigade, which had been Woodgate's, recovered already from its Spion +Kop experience, carried out this part of the plan, supported by six +batteries of field artillery, one howitzer battery, and two 4.7 naval +guns. Three hours later a telegram was on its way to Pretoria to tell +how triumphantly the burghers had driven back an attack which was never +meant to go forward. The infantry retired first, then the artillery in +alternate batteries, preserving a beautiful order and decorum. The last +battery, the 78th, remained to receive the concentrated fire of the +Boer guns, and was so enveloped in the dust of the exploding shells +that spectators could only see a gun here or a limber there. Out of this +whirl of death it quietly walked, without a bucket out of its place, +the gunners drawing one wagon, the horses of which had perished, and so +effected a leisurely and contemptuous withdrawal. The gallantry of the +gunners has been one of the most striking features of the war, but it +has never been more conspicuous than in this feint at Brakfontein. + +While the attention of the Boers was being concentrated upon the +Lancashire men, a pontoon bridge was suddenly thrown across the river +at a place called Munger's Drift, some miles to the eastward. Three +infantry brigades, those of Hart, Lyttelton, and Hildyard, had been +massed all ready to be let slip when the false attack was sufficiently +absorbing. The artillery fire (the Swartz Kop guns, and also the +batteries which had been withdrawn from the Brakfontein demonstration) +was then turned suddenly, with the crashing effect of seventy pieces, +upon the real object of attack, the isolated Vaalkranz. It is +doubtful whether any position has ever been subjected to so terrific a +bombardment, for the weight of metal thrown by single guns was greater +than that of a whole German battery in the days of their last great war. +The 4-pounders and 6-pounders of which Prince Kraft discourses would +have seemed toys beside these mighty howitzers and 4.7's. Yet though +the hillside was sharded off in great flakes, it is doubtful if this +terrific fire inflicted much injury upon the cunning and invisible +riflemen with whom we had to contend. + +About midday the infantry began to stream across the bridge, which had +been most gallantly and efficiently constructed under a warm fire, by a +party of sappers, under the command of Major Irvine. The attack was led +by the Durham Light Infantry of Lyttelton's Brigade, followed by the 1st +Rifle Brigade, with the Scottish and 3rd Rifles in support. Never did +the old Light Division of Peninsular fame go up a Spanish hillside with +greater spirit and dash than these, their descendants, facing the slope +of Vaalkranz. In open order they moved across the plain, with a superb +disregard of the crash and patter of the shrapnel, and then up they +went, the flitting figures, springing from cover to cover, stooping, +darting, crouching, running, until with their glasses the spectators on +Swartz Kop could see the gleam of the bayonets and the strain of furious +rushing men upon the summit, as the last Boers were driven from their +trenches. The position was gained, but little else. Seven officers and +seventy men were lying killed and wounded among the boulders. A few +stricken Boers, five unwounded prisoners, and a string of Basuto ponies +were the poor fruits of victory--those and the arid hill from which so +much had been hoped, and so little was to be gained. + +It was during this advance that an incident occurred of a more +picturesque character than is usual in modern warfare. The invisibility +of combatants and guns, and the absorption of the individual in the +mass, have robbed the battle-field of those episodes which adorned, if +they did not justify it. On this occasion, a Boer gun, cut off by the +British advance, flew out suddenly from behind its cover, like a hare +from its tussock, and raced for safety across the plain. Here and there +it wound, the horses stretched to their utmost, the drivers stooping and +lashing, the little gun bounding behind. To right to left, behind and +before, the British shells burst, lyddite and shrapnel, crashing and +riving. Over the lip of a hollow, the gallant gun vanished, and within +a few minutes was banging away once more at the British advance. With +cheers and shouts and laughter, the British infantrymen watched the race +for shelter, their sporting spirit rising high above all racial hatred, +and hailing with a 'gone to ground' whoop the final disappearance of the +gun. + +The Durhams had cleared the path, but the other regiments of Lyttelton's +Brigade followed hard at their heels, and before night they had firmly +established themselves upon the hill. But the fatal slowness which had +marred General Buller's previous operations again prevented him from +completing his success. Twice at least in the course of these operations +there is evidence of sudden impulse to drop his tools in the midst of +his task and to do no more for the day. So it was at Colenso, where an +order was given at an early hour for the whole force to retire, and the +guns which might have been covered by infantry fire and withdrawn after +nightfall were abandoned. So it was also at a critical moment at this +action at Vaalkranz. In the original scheme of operations it had been +planned that an adjoining hill, called the Green Hill, which partly +commanded Vaalkranz, should be carried also. The two together made a +complete position, while singly each was a very bad neighbour to the +other. On the aide-de-camp riding up, however, to inquire from General +Buller whether the time had come for this advance, he replied, 'We have +done enough for the day,' and left out this essential portion of his +original scheme, with the result that all miscarried. + +Speed was the most essential quality for carrying out his plan +successfully. So it must always be with the attack. The defence does +not know where the blow is coming, and has to distribute men and guns to +cover miles of ground. The attacker knows where he will hit, and behind +a screen of outposts he can mass his force and throw his whole strength +against a mere fraction of that of his enemy. But in order to do so he +must be quick. One tiger spring must tear the centre out of the line +before the flanks can come to its assistance. If time is given, if the +long line can concentrate, if the scattered guns can mass, if lines of +defence can be reduplicated behind, then the one great advantage which +the attack possesses is thrown away. Both at the second and at the third +attempts of Buller the British movements were so slow that had the enemy +been the slowest instead of the most mobile of armies, they could still +always have made any dispositions which they chose. Warren's dawdling +in the first days of the movement which ended at Spion Kop might with an +effort be condoned on account of possible difficulties of supply, but +it would strain the ingenuity of the most charitable critic to find a +sufficient reason for the lethargy of Vaalkranz. Though daylight comes +a little after four, the operations were not commenced before seven. +Lyttelton's Brigade had stormed the hill at two, and nothing more was +done during the long evening, while officers chafed and soldiers swore, +and the busy Boers worked furiously to bring up their guns and to bar +the path which we must take. General Buller remarked a day or two +later that the way was not quite so easy as it had been. One might have +deduced the fact without the aid of a balloon. + +The brigade then occupied Vaalkranz and erected sangars and dug +trenches. On the morning of the 6th, the position of the British force +was not dissimilar to that of Spion Kop. Again they had some thousands +of men upon a hill-top, exposed to shell fire from several directions +and without any guns upon the hill to support them. In one or two points +the situation was modified in their favour, and hence their escape from +loss and disaster. A more extended position enabled the infantry to +avoid bunching, but in other respects the situation was parallel to that +in which they had found themselves a fortnight before. + +The original plan was that the taking of Vaalkranz should be the first +step towards the outflanking of Brakfontein and the rolling up of the +whole Boer position. But after the first move the British attitude +became one of defence rather than of attack. Whatever the general and +ultimate effect of these operations may have been, it is beyond question +that their contemplation was annoying and bewildering in the extreme to +those who were present. The position on February 6th was this. Over the +river upon the hill was a single British brigade, exposed to the fire +of one enormous gun--a 96-pound Creusot, the longest of all Long +Toms--which was stationed upon Doornkloof, and of several smaller guns +and pom-poms which spat at them from nooks and crevices of the hills. +On our side were seventy-two guns, large and small, all very noisy and +impotent. It is not too much to say, as it appears to me, that the +Boers have in some ways revolutionised our ideas in regard to the use of +artillery, by bringing a fresh and healthy common-sense to bear upon +a subject which had been unduly fettered by pedantic rules. The Boer +system is the single stealthy gun crouching where none can see it. The +British system is the six brave guns coming into action in line of full +interval, and spreading out into accurate dressing visible to all men. +'Always remember,' says one of our artillery maxims, 'that one gun is +no gun.' Which is prettier on a field-day, is obvious, but which is +business--let the many duels between six Boer guns and sixty British +declare. With black powder it was useless to hide the gun, as its smoke +must betray it. With smokeless powder the guns are so invisible that +it was only by the detection with powerful glasses of the dust from the +trail on the recoil that the officers were ever able to localise the +guns against which they were fighting. But if the Boers had had six guns +in line, instead of one behind that kopje, and another between those +distant rocks, it would not have been so difficult to say where they +were. Again, British traditions are all in favour of planting guns close +together. At this very action of Vaalkranz the two largest guns were +so placed that a single shell bursting between them would have disabled +them both. The officer who placed them there, and so disregarded in a +vital matter the most obvious dictates of common-sense, would probably +have been shocked by any want of technical smartness, or irregularity in +the routine drill. An over-elaboration of trifles, and a want of grip +of common-sense, and of adaptation to new ideas, is the most serious +and damaging criticism which can be levelled against our army. That the +function of infantry is to shoot, and not to act like spearmen in the +Middle Ages; that the first duty of artillery is so far as is possible +to be invisible--these are two of the lessons which have been driven +home so often during the war, that even our hidebound conservatism can +hardly resist them. + +Lyttelton's Brigade, then, held Vaalkranz; and from three parts of the +compass there came big shells and little shells, with a constant shower +of long-range rifle bullets. Behind them, and as useful as if it had +been on Woolwich Common, there was drawn up an imposing mass of men, two +infantry divisions, and two brigades of cavalry, all straining at the +leash, prepared to shed their blood until the spruits ran red with it, +if only they could win their way to where their half-starved comrades +waited for them. But nothing happened. Hours passed and nothing +happened. An occasional shell from the big gun plumped among them. One, +through some freak of gunnery, lobbed slowly through a division, and the +men whooped and threw their caps at it as it passed. The guns on Swartz +Kop, at a range of nearly five miles, tossed shells at the monster on +Doornkloof, and finally blew up his powder magazine amid the applause of +the infantry. For the army it was a picnic and a spectacle. + +But it was otherwise with the men up on Vaalkranz. In spite of sangar +and trench, that cross fire was finding them out; and no feint or +demonstration on either side came to draw the concentrated fire from +their position. Once there was a sudden alarm at the western end of the +hill, and stooping bearded figures with slouch hats and bandoliers were +right up on the ridge before they could be stopped, so cleverly had +their advance been conducted. But a fiery rush of Durhams and Rifles +cleared the crest again, and it was proved once more how much stronger +is the defence than the attack. Nightfall found the position unchanged, +save that another pontoon bridge had been constructed during the day. +Over this Hildyard's Brigade marched to relieve Lyttelton's, who came +back for a rest under the cover of the Swartz Kop guns. Their losses in +the two days had been under two hundred and fifty, a trifle if any aim +were to be gained, but excessive for a mere demonstration. + +That night Hildyard's men supplemented the defences made by Lyttelton, +and tightened their hold upon the hill. One futile night attack caused +them for an instant to change the spade for the rifle. When in the +morning it was found that the Boers had, as they naturally would, +brought up their outlying guns, the tired soldiers did not regret their +labours of the night. It was again demonstrated how innocuous a thing is +a severe shell fire, if the position be an extended one with chances of +cover. A total of forty killed and wounded out of a strong brigade +was the result of a long day under an incessant cannonade. And then at +nightfall came the conclusion that the guns were too many, that the +way was too hard, and down came all their high hopes with the order to +withdraw once more across that accursed river. Vaalkranz was abandoned, +and Hildyard's Brigade, seething with indignation, was ordered back once +more to its camp. + + + +CHAPTER 17. BULLER'S FINAL ADVANCE. + +The heroic moment of the siege of Ladysmith was that which witnessed the +repulse of the great attack. The epic should have ended at that dramatic +instant. But instead of doing so the story falls back to an anticlimax +of crowded hospitals, slaughtered horses, and sporadic shell fire. +For another six weeks of inactivity the brave garrison endured all the +sordid evils which had steadily grown from inconvenience to misfortune +and from misfortune to misery. Away in the south they heard the thunder +of Buller's guns, and from the hills round the town they watched with +pale faces and bated breath the tragedy of Spion Kop, preserving a firm +conviction that a very little more would have transformed it into their +salvation. Their hearts sank with the sinking of the cannonade, and rose +again with the roar of Vaalkranz. But Vaalkranz also failed them, and +they waited on in the majesty of their hunger and their weakness for the +help which was to come. + +It has been already narrated how General Buller had made his three +attempts for the relief of the city. The General who was inclined to +despair was now stimulated by despatches from Lord Roberts, while his +army, who were by no means inclined to despair, were immensely cheered +by the good news from the Kimberley side. Both General and army prepared +for a last supreme effort. This time, at least, the soldiers hoped that +they would be permitted to burst their way to the help of their starving +comrades or leave their bones among the hills which had faced them so +long. All they asked was a fight to a finish, and now they were about to +have one. General Buller had tried the Boers' centre, he had tried their +extreme right, and now he was about to try their extreme left. There +were some obvious advantages on this side which make it surprising that +it was not the first to be attempted. In the first place, the enemy's +main position upon that flank was at Hlangwane mountain, which is to +the south of the Tugela, so that in case of defeat the river ran behind +them. In the second, Hlangwane mountain was the one point from which the +Boer position at Colenso could be certainly enfiladed, and therefore +the fruits of victory would be greater on that flank than on the other. +Finally, the operations could be conducted at no great distance from the +railhead, and the force would be exposed to little danger of having its +flank attacked or its communications cut, as was the case in the Spion +Kop advance. Against these potent considerations there is only to be put +the single fact that the turning of the Boer right would threaten the +Freestaters' line of retreat. On the whole, the balance of advantage lay +entirely with the new attempt, and the whole army advanced to it with a +premonition of success. Of all the examples which the war has given of +the enduring qualities of the British troops there is none more striking +than the absolute confidence and whole hearted delight with which, after +three bloody repulses, they set forth upon another venture. + +On February 9th the movements were started which transferred the greater +part of the force from the extreme left to the centre and right. By the +11th Lyttelton's (formerly Clery's) second division and Warren's fifth +division had come eastward, leaving Burn Murdoch's cavalry brigade +to guard the Western side. On the 12th Lord Dundonald, with all the +colonial cavalry, two battalions of infantry, and a battery, made a +strong reconnaissance towards Hussar Hill, which is the nearest of +the several hills which would have to be occupied in order to turn the +position. The hill was taken, but was abandoned again by General Buller +after he had used it for some hours as an observatory. A long-range +action between the retiring cavalry and the Boers ended in a few losses +upon each side. + +What Buller had seen during the hour or two which he had spent with his +telescope upon Hussar Hill had evidently confirmed him in his views, for +two days later (February 14th) the whole army set forth for this point. +By the morning of the 15th twenty thousand men were concentrated upon +the sides and spurs of this eminence. On the 16th the heavy guns were in +position, and all was ready for the advance. + +Facing them now were the formidable Boer lines of Hlangwane Hill and +Green Hill, which would certainly cost several thousands of men if they +were to take them by direct storm. Beyond them, upon the Boer flank, +were the hills of Monte Christo and Cingolo, which appeared to be +the extreme outside of the Boer position. The plan was to engage the +attention of the trenches in front by a terrific artillery fire and +the threat of an assault, while at the same time sending the true flank +attack far round to carry the Cingolo ridge, which must be taken before +any other hill could be approached. + +On the 17th, in the early morning, with the first tinge of violet in the +east, the irregular cavalry and the second division (Lyttelton's) with +Wynne's Brigade started upon their widely curving flanking march. The +country through which they passed was so broken that the troopers led +their horses in single file, and would have found themselves helpless in +face of any resistance. Fortunately, Cingolo Hill was very weakly held, +and by evening both our horsemen and our infantry had a firm grip upon +it, thus turning the extreme left flank of the Boer position. For once +their mountainous fortresses were against them, for a mounted Boer force +is so mobile that in an open position, such as faced Methuen, it is very +hard and requires great celerity of movement ever to find a flank at +all. On a succession of hills, however, it was evident that some one +hill must mark the extreme end of their line, and Buller had found it at +Cingolo. Their answer to this movement was to throw their flank back so +as to face the new position. + +Even now, however, the Boer leaders had apparently not realised that +this was the main attack, or it is possible that the intervention of the +river made it difficult for them to send reinforcements. However that +may be, it is certain that the task which the British found awaiting +them on the 18th proved to be far easier than they had dared to hope. +The honours of the day rested with Hildyard's English Brigade (East +Surrey, West Surrey, West Yorkshires, and 2nd Devons). In open order +and with a rapid advance, taking every advantage of the cover--which was +better than is usual in South African warfare--they gained the edge +of the Monte Christo ridge, and then swiftly cleared the crest. One at +least of the regiments engaged, the Devons, was nerved by the thought +that their own first battalion was waiting for them at Ladysmith. +The capture of the hill made the line of trenches which faced Buller +untenable, and he was at once able to advance with Barton's Fusilier +Brigade and to take possession of the whole Boer position of Hlangwane +and Green Hill. It was not a great tactical victory, for they had no +trophies to show save the worthless debris of the Boer camps. But it was +a very great strategical victory, for it not only gave them the whole +south side of the Tugela, but also the means of commanding with their +guns a great deal of the north side, including those Colenso trenches +which had blocked the way so long. A hundred and seventy killed and +wounded (of whom only fourteen were killed) was a trivial price for such +a result. At last from the captured ridges the exultant troops could +see far away the haze which lay over the roofs of Ladysmith, and the +besieged, with hearts beating high with hope, turned their glasses upon +the distant mottled patches which told them that their comrades were +approaching. + +By February 20th the British had firmly established themselves along the +whole south bank of the river, Hart's brigade had occupied Colenso, +and the heavy guns had been pushed up to more advanced positions. The +crossing of the river was the next operation, and the question arose +where it should be crossed. The wisdom which comes with experience shows +us now that it would have been infinitely better to have crossed on +their extreme left flank, as by an advance upon this line we should have +turned their strong Pieters position just as we had already turned their +Colenso one. With an absolutely master card in our hand we refused to +play it, and won the game by a more tedious and perilous process. The +assumption seems to have been made (on no other hypothesis can one +understand the facts) that the enemy were demoralised and that the +positions would not be strongly held. Our flanking advantage was +abandoned and a direct advance was ordered from Colenso, involving a +frontal attack upon the Pieters position. + +On February 21st Buller threw his pontoon bridge over the river near +Colenso, and the same evening his army began to cross. It was at once +evident that the Boer resistance had by no means collapsed. Wynne's +Lancashire Brigade were the first across, and found themselves hotly +engaged before nightfall. The low kopjes in front of them were blazing +with musketry fire. The brigade held its own, but lost the Brigadier +(the second in a month) and 150 rank and file. Next morning the main +body of the infantry was passed across, and the army was absolutely +committed to the formidable and unnecessary enterprise of fighting its +way straight to Ladysmith. + +The force in front had weakened, however, both in numbers and in morale. +Some thousands of the Freestaters had left in order to defend their own +country from the advance of Roberts, while the rest were depressed by as +much of the news as was allowed by their leaders to reach them. But +the Boer is a tenacious fighter, and many a brave man was still to +fall before Buller and White should shake hands in the High Street of +Ladysmith. + +The first obstacle which faced the army, after crossing the river, was +a belt of low rolling ground, which was gradually cleared by the advance +of our infantry. As night closed in the advance lines of Boers and +British were so close to each other that incessant rifle fire was +maintained until morning, and at more than one point small bodies of +desperate riflemen charged right up to the bayonets of our infantry. The +morning found us still holding our positions all along the line, and +as more and more of our infantry came up and gun after gun roared into +action we began to push our stubborn enemy northwards. On the 21st the +Dorsets, Middlesex, and Somersets had borne the heat of the day. On the +22nd it was the Royal Lancasters, followed by the South Lancashires, who +took up the running. It would take the patience and also the space of +a Kinglake in this scrambling broken fight to trace the doings of those +groups of men who strove and struggled through the rifle fire. All day +a steady advance was maintained over the low kopjes, until by evening +we were faced by the more serious line of the Pieter's Hills. The +operations had been carried out with a monotony of gallantry. Always the +same extended advance, always the same rattle of Mausers and clatter of +pom-poms from a ridge, always the same victorious soldiers on the barren +crest, with a few crippled Boers before them and many crippled comrades +behind. They were expensive triumphs, and yet every one brought them +nearer to their goal. And now, like an advancing tide, they lapped along +the base of Pieter's Hill. Could they gather volume enough to carry +themselves over? The issue of the long-drawn battle and the fate of +Ladysmith hung upon the question. + +Brigadier Fitzroy Hart, to whom the assault was entrusted, is in some +ways as singular and picturesque a type as has been evolved in the war. +A dandy soldier, always the picture of neatness from the top of his +helmet to the heels of his well-polished brown boots, he brings to +military matters the same precision which he affects in dress. Pedantic +in his accuracy, he actually at the battle of Colenso drilled the Irish +Brigade for half an hour before leading them into action, and threw +out markers under a deadly fire in order that his change from close to +extended formation might be academically correct. The heavy loss of the +Brigade at this action was to some extent ascribed to him and affected +his popularity; but as his men came to know him better, his romantic +bravery, his whimsical soldierly humour, their dislike changed into +admiration. His personal disregard for danger was notorious and +reprehensible. 'Where is General Hart?' asked some one in action. 'I +have not seen him, but I know where you will find him. Go ahead of the +skirmish line and you will see him standing on a rock,' was the answer. +He bore a charmed life. It was a danger to be near him. 'Whom are you +going to?' 'General Hart,' said the aide-de-camp. 'Then good-bye!' +cried his fellows. A grim humour ran through his nature. It is gravely +recorded and widely believed that he lined up a regiment on a hill-top +in order to teach them not to shrink from fire. Amid the laughter of his +Irishmen, he walked through the open files of his firing line holding a +laggard by the ear. This was the man who had put such a spirit into the +Irish Brigade that amid that army of valiant men there were none who +held such a record. 'Their rushes were the quickest, their rushes were +the longest, and they stayed the shortest time under cover,' said a +shrewd military observer. To Hart and his brigade was given the task of +clearing the way to Ladysmith. + +The regiments which he took with him on his perilous enterprise were the +1st Inniskilling Fusiliers, the 2nd Dublin Fusiliers, the 1st Connaught +Rangers, and the Imperial Light Infantry, the whole forming the famous +5th Brigade. They were already in the extreme British advance, and now, +as they moved forwards, the Durham Light Infantry and the 1st Rifle +Brigade from Lyttelton's Brigade came up to take their place. The hill +to be taken lay on the right, and the soldiers were compelled to pass in +single file under a heavy fire for more than a mile until they reached +the spot which seemed best for their enterprise. There, short already +of sixty of their comrades, they assembled and began a cautious advance +upon the lines of trenches and sangars which seamed the brown slope +above them. + +For a time they were able to keep some cover, and the casualties were +comparatively few. But now at last, as the evening sun threw a long +shadow from the hills, the leading regiment, the Inniskillings, found +themselves at the utmost fringe of boulders with a clear slope between +them and the main trench of the enemy. Up there where the shrapnel was +spurting and the great lyddite shells crashing they could dimly see a +line of bearded faces and the black dots of the slouch hats. With a yell +the Inniskillings sprang out, carried with a rush the first trench, +and charged desperately onwards for the second one. It was a supremely +dashing attack against a supremely steady resistance, for among all +their gallant deeds the Boers have never fought better than on that +February evening. Amid such a smashing shell fire as living mortals have +never yet endured they stood doggedly, these hardy men of the veld, and +fired fast and true into the fiery ranks of the Irishmen. The yell of +the stormers was answered by the remorseless roar of the Mausers and +the deep-chested shouts of the farmers. Up and up surged the infantry, +falling, rising, dashing bull-headed at the crackling line of the +trench. But still the bearded faces glared at them over the edge, +and still the sheet of lead pelted through their ranks. The regiment +staggered, came on, staggered again, was overtaken by supporting +companies of the Dublins and the Connaughts, came on, staggered once +more, and finally dissolved into shreds, who ran swiftly back for cover, +threading their way among their stricken comrades. Never on this +earth was there a retreat of which the survivors had less reason to be +ashamed. They had held on to the utmost capacity of human endurance. +Their Colonel, ten officers, and more than half the regiment were +lying on the fatal hill. Honour to them, and honour also to the gallant +Dutchmen who, rooted in the trenches, had faced the rush and fury +of such an onslaught! Today to them, tomorrow to us--but it is for a +soldier to thank the God of battles for worthy foes. + +It is one thing, however, to repulse the British soldier and it is +another to rout him. Within a few hundred yards of their horrible ordeal +at Magersfontein the Highlanders reformed into a military body. So now +the Irishmen fell back no further than the nearest cover, and there +held grimly on to the ground which they had won. If you would know the +advantage which the defence has over the attack, then do you come and +assault this line of tenacious men, now in your hour of victory and +exultation, friend Boer! Friend Boer did attempt it, and skilfully too, +moving a flanking party to sweep the position with their fire. But the +brigade, though sorely hurt, held them off without difficulty, and was +found on the morning of the 24th to be still lying upon the ground which +they had won. + +Our losses had been very heavy, Colonel Thackeray of the Inniskillings, +Colonel Sitwell of the Dublins, three majors, twenty officers, and a +total of about six hundred out of 1200 actually engaged. To take such +punishment and to remain undemoralised is the supreme test to which +troops can be put. Could the loss have been avoided? By following the +original line of advance from Monte Christo, perhaps, when we should +have turned the enemy's left. But otherwise no. The hill was in the way +and had to be taken. In the war game you cannot play without a stake. +You lose and you pay forfeit, and where the game is fair the best player +is he who pays with the best grace. The attack was well prepared, well +delivered, and only miscarried on account of the excellence of the +defence. We proved once more what we had proved so often before, that +all valour and all discipline will not avail in a frontal attack against +brave coolheaded men armed with quick-firing rifles. + +While the Irish Brigade assaulted Railway Hill an attack had been made +upon the left, which was probably meant as a demonstration to keep the +Boers from reinforcing their comrades rather than as an actual attempt +upon their lines. Such as it was, however, it cost the life of at least +one brave soldier, for Colonel Thorold, of the Welsh Fusiliers, was +among the fallen. Thorold, Thackeray, and Sitwell in one evening. Who +can say that British colonels have not given their men a lead? + +The army was now at a deadlock. Railway Hill barred the way, and if +Hart's men could not carry it by assault it was hard to say who could. +The 24th found the two armies facing each other at this critical point, +the Irishmen still clinging to the slopes of the hill and the Boers +lining the top. Fierce rifle firing broke out between them during the +day, but each side was well covered and lay low. The troops in support +suffered somewhat, however, from a random shell fire. Mr. Winston +Churchill has left it upon record that within his own observation three +of their shrapnel shells fired at a venture on to the reverse slope of +a hill accounted for nineteen men and four horses. The enemy can never +have known how hard those three shells had hit us, and so we may also +believe that our artillery fire has often been less futile than it +appeared. + +General Buller had now realised that it was no mere rearguard action +which the Boers were fighting, but that their army was standing doggedly +at bay; so he reverted to that flanking movement which, as events +showed, should never have been abandoned. Hart's Irish Brigade was at +present almost the right of the army. His new plan--a masterly one--was +to keep Hart pinning the Boers at that point, and to move his centre and +left across the river, and then back to envelope the left wing of the +enemy. By this manoeuvre Hart became the extreme left instead of the +extreme right, and the Irish Brigade would be the hinge upon which the +whole army should turn. It was a large conception, finely carried out. +The 24th was a day of futile shell fire--and of plans for the future. +The heavy guns were got across once more to the Monte Christo ridge and +to Hlangwane, and preparations made to throw the army from the west to +the east. The enemy still snarled and occasionally snapped in front of +Hart's men, but with four companies of the 2nd Rifle Brigade to protect +their flanks their position remained secure. + +In the meantime, through a contretemps between our outposts and the +Boers, no leave had been given to us to withdraw our wounded, and the +unfortunate fellows, some hundreds of them, had lain between the lines +in agonies of thirst for thirty-six hours--one of the most painful +incidents of the campaign. Now, upon the 25th, an armistice was +proclaimed, and the crying needs of the survivors were attended to. On +the same day the hearts of our soldiers sank within them as they saw the +stream of our wagons and guns crossing the river once more. What, were +they foiled again? Was the blood of these brave men to be shed in vain? +They ground their teeth at the thought. The higher strategy was not for +them, but back was back and forward was forward, and they knew which way +their proud hearts wished to go. + +The 26th was occupied by the large movements of troops which so +complete a reversal of tactics necessitated. Under the screen of a +heavy artillery fire, the British right became the left and the left +the right. A second pontoon bridge was thrown across near the old Boer +bridge at Hlangwane, and over it was passed a large force of infantry, +Barton's Fusilier Brigade, Kitchener's (vice Wynne's, vice Woodgate's) +Lancashire Brigade, and two battalions of Norcott's (formerly +Lyttelton's) Brigade. Coke's Brigade was left at Colenso to prevent +a counter attack upon our left flank and communications. In this way, +while Hart with the Durhams and the 1st Rifle Brigade held the Boers +in front, the main body of the army was rapidly swung round on to their +left flank. By the morning of the 27th all were in place for the new +attack. + +Opposite the point where the troops had been massed were three Boer +hills; one, the nearest, may for convenience sake be called Barton's +Hill. As the army had formerly been situated the assault upon this hill +would have been a matter of extreme difficulty; but now, with the heavy +guns restored to their commanding position, from which they could sweep +its sides and summits, it had recovered its initial advantage. In the +morning sunlight Barton's Fusiliers crossed the river, and advanced +to the attack under a screaming canopy of shells. Up they went and up, +darting and crouching, until their gleaming bayonets sparkled upon the +summit. The masterful artillery had done its work, and the first long +step taken in this last stage of the relief of Ladysmith. The loss had +been slight and the advantage enormous. After they had gained the summit +the Fusiliers were stung and stung again by clouds of skirmishers who +clung to the flanks of the hill, but their grip was firm and grew firmer +with every hour. + +Of the three Boer hills which had to be taken the nearest (or eastern +one) was now in the hands of the British. The furthest (or western one) +was that on which the Irish Brigade was still crouching, ready at any +moment for a final spring which would take them over the few hundred +yards which separated them from the trenches. Between the two intervened +a central hill, as yet untouched. Could we carry this the whole position +would be ours. Now for the final effort! Turn every gun upon it, the +guns of Monte Christo, the guns of Hlangwane! Turn every rifle upon +it--the rifles of Barton's men, the rifles of Hart's men, the carbines +of the distant cavalry! Scalp its crown with the machine-gun fire! And +now up with you, Lancashire men, Norcott's men! The summit or a glorious +death, for beyond that hill your suffering comrades are awaiting you! +Put every bullet and every man and all of fire and spirit that you are +worth into this last hour; for if you fail now you have failed for ever, +and if you win, then when your hairs are white your blood will still run +warm when you think of that morning's work. The long drama had drawn to +an end, and one short day's work is to show what that end was to be. + +But there was never a doubt of it. Hardly for one instant did the +advance waver at any point of its extended line. It was the supreme +instant of the Natal campaign, as, wave after wave, the long lines of +infantry went shimmering up the hill. On the left the Lancasters, the +Lancashire Fusiliers, the South Lancashires, the York and Lancasters, +with a burr of north country oaths, went racing for the summit. Spion +Kop and a thousand comrades were calling for vengeance. 'Remember, men, +the eyes of Lancashire are watching you,' cried the gallant MacCarthy +O'Leary. The old 40th swept on, but his dead body marked the way which +they had taken. On the right the East Surrey, the Cameronians, the 3rd +Rifles, the 1st Rifle Brigade, the Durhams, and the gallant Irishmen, so +sorely stricken and yet so eager, were all pressing upwards and onwards. +The Boer fire lulls, it ceases--they are running! Wild hat-waving men +upon the Hlangwane uplands see the silhouette of the active figures of +the stormers along the sky-line and know that the position is theirs. +Exultant soldiers dance and cheer upon the ridge. The sun is setting in +glory over the great Drakensberg mountains, and so also that night +set for ever the hopes of the Boer invaders of Natal. Out of doubt and +chaos, blood and labour, had come at last the judgment that the lower +should not swallow the higher, that the world is for the man of the +twentieth and not of the seventeenth century. After a fortnight of +fighting the weary troops threw themselves down that night with the +assurance that at last the door was ajar and the light breaking through. +One more effort and it would be open before them. + +Behind the line of hills which had been taken there extended a great +plain as far as Bulwana--that evil neighbour who had wrought such harm +upon Ladysmith. More than half of the Pieters position had fallen into +Buller's hands on the 27th, and the remainder had become untenable. +The Boers had lost some five hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. +[Footnote: Accurate figures will probably never be obtained, but a +well-known Boer in Pretoria informed me that Pieters was the most +expensive fight to them of the whole war. ] It seemed to the British +General and his men that one more action would bring them safely into +Ladysmith. + +But here they miscalculated, and so often have we miscalculated on the +optimistic side in this campaign that it is pleasing to find for +once that our hopes were less than the reality. The Boers had been +beaten--fairly beaten and disheartened. It will always be a subject for +conjecture whether they were so entirely on the strength of the Natal +campaign, or whether the news of the Cronje disaster from the western +side had warned them that they must draw in upon the east. For my own +part I believe that the honour lies with the gallant men of Natal, +and that, moving on these lines, they would, Cronje or no Cronje, have +forced their way in triumph to Ladysmith. + +And now the long-drawn story draws to a swift close. Cautiously feeling +their way with a fringe of horse, the British pushed over the great +plain, delayed here and there by the crackle of musketry, but finding +always that the obstacle gave way and vanished as they approached it. +At last it seemed clear to Dundonald that there really was no barrier +between his horsemen and the beleaguered city. With a squadron of +Imperial Light Horse and a squadron of Natal Carabineers he rode on +until, in the gathering twilight, the Ladysmith picket challenged the +approaching cavalry, and the gallant town was saved. + +It is hard to say which had shown the greater endurance, the rescued +or their rescuers. The town, indefensible, lurking in a hollow under +commanding hills, had held out for 118 days. They had endured two +assaults and an incessant bombardment, to which, towards the end, +owing to the failure of heavy ammunition, they were unable to make any +adequate reply. It was calculated that 16, 000 shells had fallen within +the town. In two successful sorties they had destroyed three of the +enemy's heavy guns. They had been pressed by hunger, horseflesh was +already running short, and they had been decimated by disease. More than +2000 cases of enteric and dysentery had been in hospital at one time, +and the total number of admissions had been nearly as great as the total +number of the garrison. One-tenth of the men had actually died of wounds +or disease. Ragged, bootless, and emaciated, there still lurked in the +gaunt soldiers the martial spirit of warriors. On the day after their +relief 2000 of them set forth to pursue the Boers. One who helped to +lead them has left it on record that the most piteous sight that he has +ever seen was these wasted men, stooping under their rifles and gasping +with the pressure of their accoutrements, as they staggered after +their retreating enemy. A Verestschagen might find a subject these 2000 +indomitable men with their emaciated horses pursuing a formidable foe. +It is God's mercy they failed to overtake them. + +If the record of the besieged force was great, that of the relieving +army was no less so. Through the blackest depths of despondency and +failure they had struggled to absolute success. At Colenso they had lost +1200 men, at Spion Kop 1700, at Vaalkranz 400, and now, in this last +long-drawn effort, 1600 more. Their total losses were over 5000 men, +more than 20 per cent of the whole army. Some particular regiments had +suffered horribly. The Dublin and Inniskilling Fusiliers headed the +roll of honour with only five officers and 40 per cent of the men left +standing. Next to them the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Lancasters +had been the hardest hit. It speaks well for Buller's power of winning +and holding the confidence of his men that in the face of repulse after +repulse the soldiers still went into battle as steadily as ever under +his command. + +On March 3rd Buller's force entered Ladysmith in state between the lines +of the defenders. For their heroism the Dublin Fusiliers were put in the +van of the procession, and it is told how, as the soldiers who lined +the streets saw the five officers and small clump of men, the remains of +what had been a strong battalion, realising, for the first time perhaps, +what their relief had cost, many sobbed like children. With cheer after +cheer the stream of brave men flowed for hours between banks formed by +men as brave. But for the purposes of war the garrison was useless. A +month of rest and food would be necessary before they could be ready to +take the field once more. + +So the riddle of the Tugela had at last been solved. Even now, with all +the light which has been shed upon the matter, it is hard to apportion +praise and blame. To the cheerful optimism of Symons must be laid some +of the blame of the original entanglement; but man is mortal, and he +laid down his life for his mistake. White, who had been but a week +in the country, could not, if he would, alter the main facts of the +military situation. He did his best, committed one or two errors, did +brilliantly on one or two points, and finally conducted the defence +with a tenacity and a gallantry which are above all praise. It did not, +fortunately, develop into an absolutely desperate affair, like Massena's +defence of Genoa, but a few more weeks would have made it a military +tragedy. He was fortunate in the troops whom he commanded--half of +them old soldiers from India--[Footnote: An officer in high command in +Ladysmith has told me, as an illustration of the nerve and discipline of +the troops, that though false alarms in the Boer trenches were matters +of continual occurrence from the beginning to the end of the siege, +there was not one single occasion when the British outposts made a +mistake.]--and exceedingly fortunate in his officers, French (in the +operations before the siege), Archibald Hunter, Ian Hamilton, Hedworth +Lambton, Dick-Cunyngham, Knox, De Courcy Hamilton, and all the other +good men and true who stood (as long as they could stand) by his side. +Above all, he was fortunate in his commissariat officers, and it was in +the offices of Colonels Ward and Stoneman as much as in the trenches and +sangars of Caesar's Camp that the siege was won. + +Buller, like White, had to take the situation as he found it. It is well +known that his own belief was that the line of the Tugela was the +true defence of Natal. When he reached Africa, Ladysmith was already +beleaguered, and he, with his troops, had to abandon the scheme of +direct invasion and to hurry to extricate White's division. Whether they +might not have been more rapidly extricated by keeping to the original +plan is a question which will long furnish an excellent subject for +military debate. Had Buller in November known that Ladysmith was capable +of holding out until March, is it conceivable that he, with his whole +army corps and as many more troops as he cared to summon from England, +would not have made such an advance in four months through the Free +State as would necessitate the abandonment of the sieges both of +Kimberley and of Ladysmith? If the Boers persisted in these sieges they +could not possibly place more than 20,000 men on the Orange River to +face 60, 000 whom Buller could have had there by the first week in +December. Methuen's force, French's force, Gatacre's force, and the +Natal force, with the exception of garrisons for Pietermaritzburg and +Durban, would have assembled, with a reserve of another sixty thousand +men in the colony or on the sea ready to fill the gaps in his advance. +Moving over a flat country with plenty of flanking room, it is probable +that he would have been in Bloemfontein by Christmas and at the Vaal +River late in January. What could the Boers do then? They might remain +before Ladysmith, and learn that their capital and their gold mines had +been taken in their absence. Or they might abandon the siege and trek +back to defend their own homes. This, as it appears to a civilian +critic, would have been the least expensive means of fighting them; but +after all the strain had to come somewhere, and the long struggle of +Ladysmith may have meant a more certain and complete collapse in the +future. At least, by the plan actually adopted we saved Natal from total +devastation, and that must count against a great deal. + +Having taken his line, Buller set about his task in a slow, deliberate, +but pertinacious fashion. It cannot be denied, however, that the +pertinacity was largely due to the stiffening counsel of Roberts and the +soldierly firmness of White who refused to acquiesce in the suggestion +of surrender. Let it be acknowledged that Buller's was the hardest +problem of the war, and that he solved it. The mere acknowledgment +goes far to soften criticism. But the singular thing is that in his +proceedings he showed qualities which had not been generally attributed +to him, and was wanting in those very points which the public had +imagined to be characteristic of him. He had gone out with the +reputation of a downright John Bull fighter, who would take punishment +or give it, but slog his way through without wincing. There was no +reason for attributing any particular strategical ability to him. But +as a matter of fact, setting the Colenso attempt aside, the crossing for +the Spion Kop enterprise, the withdrawal of the compromised army, the +Vaalkranz crossing with the clever feint upon Brakfontein, the final +operations, and especially the complete change of front after the +third day of Pieters, were strategical movements largely conceived +and admirably carried out. On the other hand, a hesitation in pushing +onwards, and a disinclination to take a risk or to endure heavy +punishment, even in the case of temporary failure, were consistent +characteristics of his generalship. The Vaalkranz operations are +particularly difficult to defend from the charge of having been +needlessly slow and half-hearted. This 'saturnine fighter,' as he had +been called, proved to be exceedingly sensitive about the lives of his +men--an admirable quality in itself, but there are occasions when to +spare them to-day is to needlessly imperil them tomorrow. The victory +was his, and yet in the very moment of it he displayed the qualities +which marred him. With two cavalry brigades in hand he did not push +the pursuit of the routed Boers with their guns and endless streams of +wagons. It is true that he might have lost heavily, but it is true also +that a success might have ended the Boer invasion of Natal, and the +lives of our troopers would be well spent in such a venture. If cavalry +is not to be used in pursuing a retiring enemy encumbered with much +baggage, then its day is indeed past. + +The relief of Ladysmith stirred the people of the Empire as nothing, +save perhaps the subsequent relief of Mafeking, has done during our +generation. Even sober unemotional London found its soul for once and +fluttered with joy. Men, women, and children, rich and poor, clubman and +cabman, joined in the universal delight. The thought of our garrison, +of their privations, of our impotence to relieve them, of the impending +humiliation to them and to us, had lain dark for many months across our +spirits. It had weighed upon us, until the subject, though ever present +in our thoughts, was too painful for general talk. And now, in an +instant, the shadow was lifted. The outburst of rejoicing was not +a triumph over the gallant Boers. But it was our own escape from +humiliation, the knowledge that the blood of our sons had not been shed +in vain, above all the conviction that the darkest hour had now passed +and that the light of peace was dimly breaking far away--that was why +London rang with joy bells that March morning, and why those bells +echoed back from every town and hamlet, in tropical sun and in Arctic +snow, over which the flag of Britain waved. + + + +CHAPTER 18. THE SIEGE AND RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY. + +It has already been narrated how, upon the arrival of the army corps +from England, the greater part was drafted to Natal, while some went +to the western side, and started under Lord Methuen upon the perilous +enterprise of the relief of Kimberley. It has also been shown how, after +three expensive victories, Lord Methuen's force met with a paralysing +reverse, and was compelled to remain inactive within twenty miles of the +town which they had come to succour. Before I describe how that succour +did eventually arrive, some attention must be paid to the incidents +which had occurred within the city. + +'I am directed to assure you that there is no reason for apprehending +that Kimberley or any part of the colony either is, or in any +contemplated event will be, in danger of attack. Mr. Schreiner is of +opinion that your fears are groundless and your anticipations in the +matter entirely without foundation.' Such is the official reply to the +remonstrance of the inhabitants, when, with the shadow of war dark +upon them, they appealed for help. It is fortunate, however, that a +progressive British town has usually the capacity for doing things for +itself without the intervention of officials. Kimberley was particularly +lucky in being the centre of the wealthy and alert De Beers Company, +which had laid in sufficient ammunition and supplies to prevent the town +from being helpless in the presence of the enemy. But the cannon were +popguns, firing a 7-pound shell for a short range, and the garrison +contained only seven hundred regulars, while the remainder were +mostly untrained miners and artisans. Among them, however, there was a +sprinkling of dangerous men from the northern wars, and all were nerved +by a knowledge that the ground which they defended was essential to the +Empire. Ladysmith was no more than any other strategic position, but +Kimberley was unique, the centre of the richest tract of ground for its +size in the whole world. Its loss would have been a heavy blow to the +British cause, and an enormous encouragement to the Boers. + +On October 12th, several hours after the expiration of Kruger's +ultimatum, Cecil Rhodes threw himself into Kimberley. This remarkable +man, who stood for the future of South Africa as clearly as the Dopper +Boer stood for its past, had, both in features and in character, some +traits which may, without extravagance, be called Napoleonic. The +restless energy, the fertility of resource, the attention to detail, +the wide sweep of mind, the power of terse comment--all these recall +the great emperor. So did the simplicity of private life in the midst of +excessive wealth. And so finally did a want of scruple where an ambition +was to be furthered, shown, for example, in that enormous donation to +the Irish party by which he made a bid for their parliamentary support, +and in the story of the Jameson raid. A certain cynicism of mind and a +grim humour complete the parallel. But Rhodes was a Napoleon of peace. +The consolidation of South Africa under the freest and most progressive +form of government was the large object on which he had expended his +energies and his fortune but the development of the country in every +conceivable respect, from the building of a railway to the importation +of a pedigree bull, engaged his unremitting attention. + +It was on October 15th that the fifty thousand inhabitants of Kimberley +first heard the voice of war. It rose and fell in a succession of +horrible screams and groans which travelled far over the veld, and the +outlying farmers marvelled at the dreadful clamour from the sirens and +the hooters of the great mines. Those who have endured all--the rifle, +the cannon, and the hunger--have said that those wild whoops from the +sirens were what had tried their nerve the most. + +The Boers in scattered bands of horsemen were thick around the town, +and had blocked the railroad. They raided cattle upon the outskirts, +but made no attempt to rush the defence. The garrison, who, civilian and +military, approached four thousand in number, lay close in rifle pit +and redoubt waiting for an attack which never came. The perimeter to be +defended was about eight miles, but the heaps of tailings made admirable +fortifications, and the town had none of those inconvenient heights +around it which had been such bad neighbours to Ladysmith. Picturesque +surroundings are not favourable to defence. + +On October 24th the garrison, finding that no attack was made, +determined upon a reconnaissance. The mounted force, upon which most of +the work and of the loss fell, consisted of the Diamond Fields Horse, a +small number of Cape Police, a company of Mounted Infantry, and a +body called the Kimberley Light Horse. With two hundred and seventy +volunteers from this force Major Scott-Turner, a redoubtable fighter, +felt his way to the north until he came in touch with the Boers. The +latter, who were much superior in numbers, manoeuvred to cut him off, +but the arrival of two companies of the North Lancashire Regiment turned +the scale in our favour. We lost three killed and twenty-one wounded in +the skirmish. The Boer loss is unknown, but their commander Botha was +slain. + +On November 4th Commandant Wessels formally summoned the town, and it is +asserted that he gave Colonel Kekewich leave to send out the women and +children. That officer has been blamed for not taking advantage of +the permission--or at the least for not communicating it to the +civil authorities. As a matter of fact the charge rests upon a +misapprehension. In Wessels' letter a distinction is made between +Africander and English women, the former being offered an asylum in his +camp. This offer was made known, and half a dozen persons took advantage +of it. The suggestion, however, in the case of the English carried +with it no promise that they would be conveyed to Orange River, and a +compliance with it would have put them as helpless hostages into the +hands of the enemy. As to not publishing the message it is not usual to +publish such official documents, but the offer was shown to Mr. Rhodes, +who concurred in the impossibility of accepting it. + +It is difficult to allude to this subject without touching upon +the painful but notorious fact that there existed during the siege +considerable friction between the military authorities and a section of +the civilians, of whom Mr. Rhodes was chief. Among other characteristics +Rhodes bore any form of restraint very badly, and chafed mightily when +unable to do a thing in the exact way which he considered best. He +may have been a Napoleon of peace, but his warmest friends could never +describe him as a Napoleon of war, for his military forecasts have been +erroneous, and the management of the Jameson fiasco certainly inspired +no confidence in the judgment of any one concerned. That his intentions +were of the best, and that he had the good of the Empire at heart, +may be freely granted; but that these motives should lead him to cabal +against, and even to threaten, the military governor, or that he should +attempt to force Lord Roberts's hand in a military operation, was most +deplorable. Every credit may be given to him for all his aid to the +military--he gave with a good grace what the garrison would otherwise +have had to commandeer--but it is a fact that the town would have been +more united, and therefore stronger, without his presence. Colonel +Kekewich and his chief staff officer, Major O'Meara, were as much +plagued by intrigue within as by the Boers without. + +On November 7th the bombardment of the town commenced from nine +9-pounder guns to which the artillery of the garrison could give no +adequate reply. The result, however, of a fortnight's fire, during +which seven hundred shells were discharged, was the loss of two +non-combatants. The question of food was recognised as being of more +importance than the enemy's fire. An early relief appeared probable, +however, as the advance of Methuen's force was already known. One pound +of bread, two ounces of sugar, and half a pound of meat were allowed per +head. It was only on the small children that the scarcity of milk told +with tragic effect. At Ladysmith, at Mafeking, and at Kimberley hundreds +of these innocents were sacrificed. + +November 25th was a red-letter day with the garrison, who made a sortie +under the impression that Methuen was not far off, and that they were +assisting his operations. The attack was made upon one of the Boer +positions by a force consisting of a detachment of the Light Horse +and of the Cape Police, and their work was brilliantly successful. The +actual storming of the redoubt was carried out by some forty men, of +whom but four were killed. They brought back thirty-three prisoners as a +proof of their victory, but the Boer gun, as usual, escaped us. In this +brilliant affair Scott-Turner was wounded, which did not prevent +him, only three days later, from leading another sortie, which was as +disastrous as the first had been successful. Save under very exceptional +circumstances it is in modern warfare long odds always upon the defence, +and the garrison would probably have been better advised had they +refrained from attacking the fortifications of their enemy--a truth +which Baden-Powell learned also at Game Tree Hill. As it was, after a +temporary success the British were blown back by the fierce Mauser fire, +and lost the indomitable Scott-Turner, with twenty-one of his brave +companions killed and twenty-eight wounded, all belonging to the +colonial corps. The Empire may reflect with pride that the people in +whose cause mainly they fought showed themselves by their gallantry and +their devotion worthy of any sacrifice which has been made. + +Again the siege settled down to a monotonous record of decreasing +rations and of expectation. On December 10 there came a sign of hope +from the outside world. Far on the southern horizon a little golden +speck shimmered against the blue African sky. It was Methuen's balloon +gleaming in the sunshine. Next morning the low grumble of distant cannon +was the sweetest of music to the listening citizens. But days passed +without further news, and it was not for more than a week that they +learned of the bloody repulse of Magersfontein, and that help was once +more indefinitely postponed. Heliographic communication had been opened +with the relieving army, and it is on record that the first message +flashed through from the south was a question about the number of a +horse. With inconceivable stupidity this has been cited as an example of +military levity and incapacity. Of course the object of the question +was a test as to whether they were really in communication with the +garrison. It must be confessed that the town seems to have contained +some very querulous and unreasonable people. + +The New Year found the beleaguered city reduced to a quarter of a pound +of meat per head, while the health of the inhabitants began to break +down under their confinement. Their interest, however, was keenly +aroused by the attempt made in the De Beers workshops to build a gun +which might reach their opponents. This remarkable piece of ordnance, +constructed by an American named Labram by the help of tools +manufactured for the purpose and of books found in the town, took the +shape eventually of a 28 lb. rifled gun, which proved to be a most +efficient piece of artillery. With grim humour, Mr. Rhodes's compliments +had been inscribed upon the shells--a fair retort in view of the openly +expressed threat of the enemy that in case of his capture they would +carry him in a cage to Pretoria. + +The Boers, though held off for a time by this unexpected piece of +ordnance, prepared a terrible answer to it. On February 7th an enormous +gun, throwing a 96 lb. shell, opened from Kamfersdam, which is four +miles from the centre of the town. The shells, following the evil +precedent of the Germans in 1870, were fired not at the forts, but into +the thickly populated city. Day and night these huge missiles exploded, +shattering the houses and occasionally killing or maiming the occupants. +Some thousands of the women and children were conveyed down the mines, +where, in the electric-lighted tunnels, they lay in comfort and safety. +One surprising revenge the Boers had, for by an extraordinary chance +one of the few men killed by their gun was the ingenious Labram who had +constructed the 28-pounder. By an even more singular chance, Leon, who +was responsible for bringing the big Boer gun, was struck immediately +afterwards by a long-range rifle-shot from the garrison. + +The historian must be content to give a tame account of the siege of +Kimberley, for the thing itself was tame. Indeed 'siege' is a misnomer, +for it was rather an investment or a blockade. Such as it was, however, +the inhabitants became very restless under it, and though there were +never any prospects of surrender the utmost impatience began to be +manifested at the protracted delay on the part of the relief force. It +was not till later that it was understood how cunningly Kimberley had +been used as a bait to hold the enemy until final preparations had been +made for his destruction. + +And at last the great day came. It is on record how dramatic was the +meeting between the mounted outposts of the defenders and the advance +guard of the relievers, whose advent seems to have been equally +unexpected by friend and foe. A skirmish was in progress on February +15th between a party of the Kimberley Light Horse and of the Boers, when +a new body of horsemen, unrecognised by either side, appeared upon the +plain and opened fire upon the enemy. One of the strangers rode up to +the patrol. 'What the dickens does K.L. H. mean on your shoulder-strap?' +he asked. 'It means Kimberley Light Horse. Who are you?' 'I am one of +the New Zealanders.' Macaulay in his wildest dream of the future of the +much-quoted New Zealander never pictured him as heading a rescue force +for the relief of a British town in the heart of Africa. + +The population had assembled to watch the mighty cloud of dust which +rolled along the south-eastern horizon. What was it which swept +westwards within its reddish heart? Hopeful and yet fearful they saw the +huge bank draw nearer and nearer. An assault from the whole of Cronje's +army was the thought which passed through many a mind. And then the +dust-cloud thinned, a mighty host of horsemen spurred out from it, and +in the extended far-flung ranks the glint of spearheads and the gleam of +scabbards told of the Hussars and Lancers, while denser banks on either +flank marked the position of the whirling guns. Wearied and spent with +a hundred miles' ride the dusty riders and the panting, dripping horses +took fresh heart as they saw the broad city before them, and swept with +martial rattle and jingle towards the cheering crowds. Amid shouts and +tears French rode into Kimberley while his troopers encamped outside the +town. + +To know how this bolt was prepared and how launched, the narrative must +go back to the beginning of the month. At that period Methuen and his +men were still faced by Cronje and his entrenched forces, who, in spite +of occasional bombardments, held their position between Kimberley +and the relieving army. French, having handed over the operations at +Colesberg to Clements, had gone down to Cape Town to confer with Roberts +and Kitchener. Thence they all three made their way to the Modder River, +which was evidently about to be the base of a more largely conceived +series of operations than any which had yet been undertaken. + +In order to draw the Boer attention away from the thunderbolt which was +about to fall upon their left flank, a strong demonstration ending in +a brisk action was made early in February upon the extreme right of +Cronje's position. The force, consisting of the Highland Brigade, two +squadrons of the 9th Lancers, No. 7 Co. Royal Engineers, and the 62nd +Battery, was under the command of the famous Hector Macdonald. 'Fighting +Mac' as he was called by his men, had joined his regiment as a private, +and had worked through the grades of corporal, sergeant, captain, major, +and colonel, until now, still in the prime of his manhood, he found +himself riding at the head of a brigade. A bony, craggy Scotsman, with +a square fighting head and a bulldog jaw, he had conquered the +exclusiveness and routine of the British service by the same dogged +qualities which made him formidable to Dervish and to Boer. With a +cool brain, a steady nerve, and a proud heart, he is an ideal leader of +infantry, and those who saw him manoeuvre his brigade in the crisis of +the battle of Omdurman speak of it as the one great memory which they +carried back from the engagement. On the field of battle he turns to the +speech of his childhood, the jagged, rasping, homely words which brace +the nerves of the northern soldier. This was the man who had come from +India to take the place of poor Wauchope, and to put fresh heart into +the gallant but sorely stricken brigade. + +The four regiments which composed the infantry of the force--the Black +Watch, the Argyll and Sutherlands, the Seaforths, and the Highland Light +Infantry--left Lord Methuen's camp on Saturday, February 3rd, and halted +at Fraser's Drift, passing on next day to Koodoosberg. The day was very +hot, and the going very heavy, and many men fell out, some never to +return. The drift (or ford) was found, however, to be undefended, and +was seized by Macdonald, who, after pitching camp on the south side +of the river, sent out strong parties across the drift to seize and +entrench the Koodoosberg and some adjacent kopjes which, lying some +three-quarters of a mile to the north-west of the drift formed the key +of the position. A few Boer scouts were seen hurrying with the news of +his coming to the head laager. + +The effect of these messages was evident by Tuesday (February 6th), +when the Boers were seen to be assembling upon the north bank. By next +morning they were there in considerable numbers, and began an attack +upon a crest held by the Seaforths. Macdonald threw two companies of the +Black Watch and two of the Highland Light Infantry into the fight. The +Boers made excellent practice with a 7-pounder mountain gun, and their +rifle fire, considering the good cover which our men had, was very +deadly. Poor Tait, of the Black Watch, good sportsman and gallant +soldier, with one wound hardly healed upon his person, was hit again. +'They've got me this time,' were his dying words. Blair, of the +Seaforths, had his carotid cut by a shrapnel bullet, and lay for hours +while the men of his company took turns to squeeze the artery. But our +artillery silenced the Boer gun, and our infantry easily held their +riflemen. Babington with the cavalry brigade arrived from the camp about +1.30, moving along the north bank of the river. In spite of the fact +that men and horses were weary from a tiring march, it was hoped by +Macdonald's force that they would work round the Boers and make an +attempt to capture either them or their gun. But the horsemen seem not +to have realised the position of the parties, or that possibility +of bringing off a considerable coup, so the action came to a tame +conclusion, the Boers retiring unpursued from their attack. On Thursday, +February 8th, they were found to have withdrawn, and on the same evening +our own force was recalled, to the surprise and disappointment of the +public at home, who had not realised that in directing their attention +to their right flank the column had already produced the effect upon +the enemy for which they had been sent. They could not be left there, as +they were needed for those great operations which were pending. It +was on the 9th that the brigade returned; on the 10th they were +congratulated by Lord Roberts in person; and on the 11th those +new dispositions were made which were destined not only to relieve +Kimberley, but to inflict a blow upon the Boer cause from which it was +never able to recover. + +Small, brown, and wrinkled, with puckered eyes and alert manner, Lord +Roberts in spite of his sixty-seven years preserves the figure and +energy of youth. The active open-air life of India keeps men fit for the +saddle when in England they would only sit their club armchairs, and +it is hard for any one who sees the wiry figure and brisk step of Lord +Roberts to realise that he has spent forty-one years of soldiering in +what used to be regarded as an unhealthy climate. He had carried into +late life the habit of martial exercise, and a Russian traveller has +left it on record that the sight which surprised him most in India was +to see the veteran commander of the army ride forth with his spear and +carry off the peg with the skill of a practised trooper. In his early +youth he had shown in the Mutiny that he possessed the fighting energy +of the soldier to a remarkable degree, but it was only in the Afghan War +of 1880 that he had an opportunity of proving that he had rarer and more +valuable gifts, the power of swift resolution and determined execution. +At the crisis of the war he and his army disappeared entirely from +the public ken only to emerge dramatically as victors at a point three +hundred miles distant from where they had vanished. + +It is not only as a soldier, but as a man, that Lord Roberts possesses +some remarkable characteristics. He has in a supreme degree that +magnetic quality which draws not merely the respect but the love of +those who know him. In Chaucer's phrase, he is a very perfect gentle +knight. Soldiers and regimental officers have for him a feeling of +personal affection such as the unemotional British Army has never had +for any leader in the course of our history. His chivalrous courtesy, +his unerring tact, his kindly nature, his unselfish and untiring +devotion to their interests have all endeared him to those rough loyal +natures, who would follow him with as much confidence and devotion as +the grognards of the Guard had in the case of the Great Emperor. There +were some who feared that in Roberts's case, as in so many more, the +donga and kopje of South Africa might form the grave and headstone of a +military reputation, but far from this being so he consistently showed a +wide sweep of strategy and a power of conceiving the effect of scattered +movements over a great extent of country which have surprised his +warmest admirers. In the second week of February his dispositions were +ready, and there followed the swift series of blows which brought +the Boers upon their knees. Of these we shall only describe here the +exploits of the fine force of cavalry which, after a ride of a hundred +miles, broke out of the heart of that reddish dustcloud and swept the +Boer besiegers away from hard-pressed Kimberley. + +In order to strike unexpectedly, Lord Roberts had not only made a strong +demonstration at Koodoosdrift, at the other end of the Boer line, but he +had withdrawn his main force some forty miles south, taking them down +by rail to Belmont and Enslin with such secrecy that even commanding +officers had no idea whither the troops were going. The cavalry which +had come from French's command at Colesberg had already reached the +rendezvous, travelling by road to Naauwpoort, and thence by train. +This force consisted of the Carabineers, New South Wales Lancers, +Inniskillings, composite regiment of Household Cavalry, 10th Hussars, +with some mounted infantry and two batteries of Horse Artillery, making +a force of nearly three thousand sabres. To this were added the 9th and +12th Lancers from Modder River, the 16th Lancers from India, the Scots +Greys, which had been patrolling Orange River from the beginning of +the war, Rimington's Scouts, and two brigades of mounted infantry under +Colonels Ridley and Hannay. The force under this latter officer had a +severe skirmish on its way to the rendezvous and lost fifty or sixty in +killed, wounded, and missing. Five other batteries of Horse Artillery +were added to the force, making seven in all, with a pontoon section of +Royal Engineers. The total number of men was about five thousand. By the +night of Sunday, February 11th, this formidable force had concentrated +at Ramdam, twenty miles north-east of Belmont, and was ready to advance. +At two in the morning of Monday, February 12th, the start was made, and +the long sinuous line of night-riders moved off over the shadowy veld, +the beat of twenty thousand hoofs, the clank of steel, and the rumble of +gunwheels and tumbrils swelling into a deep low roar like the surge upon +the shingle. + +Two rivers, the Riet and the Modder, intervened between French and +Kimberley. By daylight on the 12th the head of his force had reached +Waterval Drift, which was found to be defended by a body of Boers with a +gun. Leaving a small detachment to hold them, French passed his men over +Dekiel's Drift, higher up the stream, and swept the enemy out of his +position. This considerable force of Boers had come from Jacobsdal, and +were just too late to get into position to resist the crossing. Had we +been ten minutes later, the matter would have been much more serious. At +the cost of a very small loss he held both sides of the ford, but it was +not until midnight that the whole long column was brought across, and +bivouacked upon the northern bank. In the morning the strength of the +force was enormously increased by the arrival of one more horseman. It +was Roberts himself, who had ridden over to give the men a send-off, and +the sight of his wiry erect figure and mahogany face sent them full of +fire and confidence upon their way. + +But the march of this second day (February 13th) was a military +operation of some difficulty. Thirty long waterless miles had to be done +before they could reach the Modder, and it was possible that even then +they might have to fight an action before winning the drift. The +weather was very hot, and through the long day the sun beat down from an +unclouded sky, while the soldiers were only shaded by the dust-bank +in which they rode. A broad arid plain, swelling into stony hills, +surrounded them on every side. Here and there in the extreme distance, +mounted figures moved over the vast expanse--Boer scouts who marked +in amazement the advance of this great array. Once or twice these men +gathered together, and a sputter of rifle fire broke out upon our left +flank, but the great tide swept on and carried them with it. Often in +this desolate land the herds of mottled springbok and of grey rekbok +could be seen sweeping over the plain, or stopping with that curiosity +upon which the hunter trades, to stare at the unwonted spectacle. + +So all day they rode, hussars, dragoons, and lancers, over the withered +veld, until men and horses drooped with the heat and the exertion. A +front of nearly two miles was kept, the regiments moving two abreast in +open order; and the sight of this magnificent cloud of horsemen sweeping +over the great barren plain was a glorious one. The veld had caught +fire upon the right, and a black cloud of smoke with a lurid heart to +it covered the flank. The beat of the sun from above and the swelter +of dust from below were overpowering. Gun horses fell in the traces +and died of pure exhaustion. The men, parched and silent, but cheerful, +strained their eyes to pierce the continual mirage which played over the +horizon, and to catch the first glimpse of the Modder. At last, as the +sun began to slope down to the west, a thin line of green was discerned, +the bushes which skirt the banks of that ill-favoured stream. With +renewed heart the cavalry pushed on and made for the drift, while +Major Rimington, to whom the onerous duty of guiding the force had been +entrusted, gave a sigh of relief as he saw that he had indeed struck the +very point at which he had aimed. + +The essential thing in the movements had been speed--to reach each point +before the enemy could concentrate to oppose them. Upon this it depended +whether they would find five hundred or five thousand waiting on the +further bank. It must have been with anxious eyes that French watched +his first regiment ride down to Klip Drift. If the Boers should have had +notice of his coming and have transferred some of their 40-pounders, he +might lose heavily before he forced the stream. But this time, at last, +he had completely outmanoeuvred them. He came with the news of his +coming, and Broadwood with the 12th Lancers rushed the drift. The small +Boer force saved itself by flight, and the camp, the wagons, and the +supplies remained with the victors. On the night of the 13th he had +secured the passage of the Modder, and up to the early morning the +horses and the guns were splashing through its coffee-coloured waters. + +French's force had now come level to the main position of the Boers, but +had struck it upon the extreme left wing. The extreme right wing, thanks +to the Koodoosdrift demonstration, was fifty miles off, and this line +was naturally very thinly held, save only at the central position of +Magersfontein. Cronje could not denude this central position, for he +saw Methuen still waiting in front of him, and in any case Klip Drift +is twenty-five miles from Magersfontein. But the Boer left wing, though +scattered, gathered into some sort of cohesion on Wednesday (February +14th), and made an effort to check the victorious progress of the +cavalry. It was necessary on this day to rest at Klip Drift, until +Kelly-Kenny should come up with the infantry to hold what had been +gained. All day the small bodies of Boers came riding in and taking up +positions between the column and its objective. + +Next morning the advance was resumed, the column being still forty miles +from Kimberley with the enemy in unknown force between. Some four miles +out French came upon their position, two hills with a long low nek +between, from which came a brisk rifle fire supported by artillery. But +French was not only not to be stopped, but could not even be retarded. +Disregarding the Boer fire completely the cavalry swept in wave after +wave over the low nek, and so round the base of the hills. The Boer +riflemen upon the kopjes must have seen a magnificent military spectacle +as regiment after regiment, the 9th Lancers leading, all in very open +order, swept across the plain at a gallop, and so passed over the nek. +A few score horses and half as many men were left behind them, but forty +or fifty Boers were cut down in the pursuit. It appears to have been +one of the very few occasions during the campaign when that obsolete and +absurd weapon the sword was anything but a dead weight to its bearer. + +And now the force had a straight run in before it, for it had outpaced +any further force of Boers which may have been advancing from the +direction of Magersfontein. The horses, which had come a hundred miles +in four days with insufficient food and water, were so done that it was +no uncommon sight to see the trooper not only walking to ease his horse, +but carrying part of his monstrous weight of saddle gear. But in spite +of fatigue the force pressed on until in the afternoon a distant view +was seen, across the reddish plain, of the brick houses and corrugated +roofs of Kimberley. The Boer besiegers cleared off in front of it, and +that night (February 15th) the relieving column camped on the plain two +miles away, while French and his staff rode in to the rescued city. + +The war was a cruel one for the cavalry, who were handicapped throughout +by the nature of the country and by the tactics of the enemy. They are +certainly the branch of the service which had least opportunity for +distinction. The work of scouting and patrolling is the most dangerous +which a soldier can undertake, and yet from its very nature it can find +no chronicler. The war correspondent, like Providence, is always with +the big battalions, and there never was a campaign in which there was +more unrecorded heroism, the heroism of the picket and of the vedette +which finds its way into no newspaper paragraph. But in the larger +operations of the war it is difficult to say that cavalry, as cavalry, +have justified their existence. In the opinion of many the tendency of +the future will be to convert the whole force into mounted infantry. How +little is required to turn our troopers into excellent foot soldiers +was shown at Magersfontein, where the 12th Lancers, dismounted by the +command of their colonel, Lord Airlie, held back the threatened flank +attack all the morning. A little training in taking cover, leggings +instead of boots, and a rifle instead of a carbine would give us a +formidable force of twenty thousand men who could do all that our +cavalry does, and a great deal more besides. It is undoubtedly possible +on many occasions in this war, at Colesberg, at Diamond Hill, to say +'Here our cavalry did well.' They are brave men on good horses, and they +may be expected to do well. But the champion of the cavalry cause must +point out the occasions where the cavalry did something which could +not have been done by the same number of equally brave and equally +well-mounted infantry. Only then will the existence of the cavalry be +justified. The lesson both of the South African and of the American +civil war is that the light horseman who is trained to fight on foot is +the type of the future. + +A few more words as a sequel to this short sketch of the siege and +relief of Kimberley. Considerable surprise has been expressed that the +great gun at Kamfersdam, a piece which must have weighed many tons and +could not have been moved by bullock teams at a rate of more than two +or three miles an hour, should have eluded our cavalry. It is indeed a +surprising circumstance, and yet it was due to no inertia on the part of +our leaders, but rather to one of the finest examples of Boer tenacity +in the whole course of the war. The instant that Kekewich was sure of +relief he mustered every available man and sent him out to endeavour to +get the gun. It had already been removed, and its retreat was covered by +the strong position of Dronfield, which was held both by riflemen and +by light artillery. Finding himself unable to force it, Murray, the +commander of the detachment, remained in front of it. Next morning +(Friday) at three o'clock the weary men and horses of two of French's +brigades were afoot with the same object. But still the Boers were +obstinately holding on to Dronfield, and still their position was too +strong to force, and too extended to get round with exhausted horses. It +was not until the night after that the Boers abandoned their excellent +rearguard action, leaving one light gun in the hands of the Cape Police, +but having gained such a start for their heavy one that French, who had +other and more important objects in view, could not attempt to follow +it. + + + +CHAPTER 19. PAARDEBERG. + +Lord Roberts's operations, prepared with admirable secrecy and carried +out with extreme energy, aimed at two different results, each of which +he was fortunate enough to attain. The first was that an overpowering +force of cavalry should ride round the Boer position and raise the siege +of Kimberley: the fate of this expedition has already been described. +The second was that the infantry, following hard on the heels of the +cavalry, and holding all that they had gained, should establish itself +upon Cronje's left flank and cut his connection with Bloemfontein. It is +this portion of the operations which has now to be described. + +The infantry force which General Roberts had assembled was a very +formidable one. The Guards he had left under Methuen in front of the +lines of Magersfontein to contain the Boer force. With them he had +also left those regiments which had fought in the 9th Brigade in +all Methuen's actions. These, as will be remembered, were the 1st +Northumberland Fusiliers, the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, the 2nd +Northamptons, and one wing of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. These +stayed to hold Cronje in his position. + +There remained three divisions of infantry, one of which, the ninth, was +made up on the spot. These were constituted in this way: + + Sixth Division (Kelly-Kenny). + 12th Brigade (Knox). + Oxford Light Infantry. + Gloucesters (2nd). + West Riding. + Buffs. + 18th Brigade (Stephenson). + Essex. + Welsh. + Warwicks. + Yorks Seventh Division (Tucker). + 14th Brigade (Chermside). + Scots Borderers. + Lincolns. + Hampshires. + Norfolks. + 15th Brigade (Wavell). + North Staffords. + Cheshires. + S. Wales Borderers. + East Lancashires Ninth Division (Colvile). + Highland Brigade (Macdonald). + Black Watch. + Argyll and Sutherlands. + Seaforths. + Highland Light Infantry. + 19th Brigade (Smith-Dorrien). + Gordons. + Canadians. + Shropshire Light Infantry. + Cornwall Light Infantry. + +With these were two brigade divisions of artillery under General +Marshall, the first containing the 18th, 62nd, and 75th batteries +(Colonel Hall), the other the 76th, 81st, and 82nd (Colonel McDonnell). +Besides these there were a howitzer battery, a naval contingent of four +4.7 guns and four 12-pounders under Captain Bearcroft of the 'Philomel.' +The force was soon increased by the transfer of the Guards and the +arrival of more artillery; but the numbers which started on Monday, +February 12th, amounted roughly to twenty-five thousand foot and eight +thousand horse with 98 guns--a considerable army to handle in a foodless +and almost waterless country. Seven hundred wagons drawn by eleven +thousand mules and oxen, all collected by the genius for preparation +and organisation which characterises Lord Kitchener, groaned and creaked +behind the columns. + +Both arms had concentrated at Ramdam, the cavalry going down by road, +and the infantry by rail as far as Belmont or Enslin. On Monday, +February 12th, the cavalry had started, and on Tuesday the infantry were +pressing hard after them. The first thing was to secure a position +upon Cronje's flank, and for that purpose the 6th Division and the 9th +(Kelly-Kenny's and Colvile's) pushed swiftly on and arrived on Thursday, +February 15th, at Klip Drift on the Modder, which had only been left +by the cavalry that same morning. It was obviously impossible to leave +Jacobsdal in the hands of the enemy on our left flank, so the 7th +Division (Tucker's) turned aside to attack the town. Wavell's brigade +carried the place after a sharp skirmish, chiefly remarkable for the +fact that the City Imperial Volunteers found themselves under fire +for the first time and bore themselves with the gallantry of the old +train-bands whose descendants they are. Our loss was two killed and +twenty wounded, and we found ourselves for the first time firmly +established in one of the enemy's towns. In the excellent German +hospital were thirty or forty of our wounded. + +On the afternoon of Thursday, February 15th, our cavalry, having left +Klip Drift in the morning, were pushing hard for Kimberley. At Klip +Drift was Kelly-Kenny's 6th Division. South of Klip Drift at Wegdraai +was Colvile's 9th Division, while the 7th Division was approaching +Jacobsdal. Altogether the British forces were extended over a line of +forty miles. The same evening saw the relief of Kimberley and the taking +of Jacobsdal, but it also saw the capture of one of our convoys by the +Boers, a dashing exploit which struck us upon what was undoubtedly our +vulnerable point. + +It has never been cleared up whence the force of Boers came which +appeared upon our rear on that occasion. It seems to have been the same +body which had already had a skirmish with Hannay's Mounted Infantry +as they went up from Orange River to join the rendezvous at Ramdam. +The balance of evidence is that they had not come from Colesberg or any +distant point, but that they were a force under the command of Piet De +Wet, the younger of two famous brothers. Descending to Waterval Drift, +the ford over the Riet, they occupied a line of kopjes, which ought, one +would have imagined, to have been carefully guarded by us, and opened +a brisk fire from rifles and guns upon the convoy as it ascended the +northern bank of the river. Numbers of bullocks were soon shot down, +and the removal of the hundred and eighty wagons made impossible. The +convoy, which contained forage and provisions, had no guard of its own, +but the drift was held by Colonel Ridley with one company of Gordons +and one hundred and fifty mounted infantry without artillery, which +certainly seems an inadequate force to secure the most vital and +vulnerable spot in the line of communications of an army of forty +thousand men. The Boers numbered at the first some five or six hundred +men, but their position was such that they could not be attacked. On the +other hand they were not strong enough to leave their shelter in order +to drive in the British guard, who, lying in extended order between the +wagons and the assailants, were keeping up a steady and effective fire. +Captain Head, of the East Lancashire Regiment, a fine natural soldier, +commanded the British firing line, and neither he nor any of his men +doubted that they could hold off the enemy for an indefinite time. In +the course of the afternoon reinforcements arrived for the Boers, but +Kitchener's Horse and a field battery came back and restored the balance +of power. In the evening the latter swayed altogether in favour of the +British, as Tucker appeared upon the scene with the whole of the 14th +Brigade; but as the question of an assault was being debated a positive +order arrived from Lord Roberts that the convoy should be abandoned and +the force return. + +If Lord Roberts needed justification for this decision, the future +course of events will furnish it. One of Napoleon's maxims in war was to +concentrate all one's energies upon one thing at one time. Roberts's aim +was to outflank and possibly to capture Cronje's army. If he allowed +a brigade to be involved in a rearguard action, his whole swift-moving +plan of campaign might be dislocated. It was very annoying to lose a +hundred and eighty wagons, but it only meant a temporary inconvenience. +The plan of campaign was the essential thing. Therefore he sacrificed +his convoy and hurried his troops upon their original mission. It was +with heavy hearts and bitter words that those who had fought so long +abandoned their charge, but now at least there are probably few of them +who do not agree in the wisdom of the sacrifice. Our loss in this affair +was between fifty and sixty killed and wounded. The Boers were unable +to get rid of the stores, and they were eventually distributed among the +local farmers and recovered again as the British forces flowed over the +country. Another small disaster occurred to us on the preceding day in +the loss of fifty men of E company of Kitchener's Horse, which had been +left as a guard to a well in the desert. + +But great events were coming to obscure those small checks which are +incidental to a war carried out over immense distances against a mobile +and enterprising enemy. Cronje had suddenly become aware of the net +which was closing round him. To the dark fierce man who had striven so +hard to make his line of kopjes impregnable it must have been a bitter +thing to abandon his trenches and his rifle pits. But he was crafty +as well as tenacious, and he had the Boer horror of being cut off--an +hereditary instinct from fathers who had fought on horseback against +enemies on foot. If at any time during the last ten weeks Methuen had +contained him in front with a thin line of riflemen with machine guns, +and had thrown the rest of his force on Jacobsdal and the east, he would +probably have attained the same result. Now at the rumour of English +upon his flank Cronje instantly abandoned his position and his plans, +in order to restore those communications with Bloemfontein upon which he +depended for his supplies. With furious speed he drew in his right wing, +and then, one huge mass of horsemen, guns, and wagons, he swept through +the gap between the rear of the British cavalry bound for Kimberley and +the head of the British infantry at Klip Drift. There was just room +to pass, and at it he dashed with the furious energy of a wild beast +rushing from a trap. A portion of his force with his heavy guns had gone +north round Kimberley to Warrenton; many of the Freestaters also had +slipped away and returned to their farms. The remainder, numbering about +six thousand men, the majority of whom were Transvaalers, swept through +between the British forces. + +This movement was carried out on the night of February 15th, and had it +been a little quicker it might have been concluded before we were aware +of it. But the lumbering wagons impeded it, and on the Friday morning, +February 16th, a huge rolling cloud of dust on the northern veld, moving +from west to east, told our outposts at Klip Drift that Cronje's army +had almost slipped through our fingers. Lord Kitchener, who was in +command at Klip Drift at the moment, instantly unleashed his mounted +infantry in direct pursuit, while Knox's brigade sped along the northern +bank of the river to cling on to the right haunch of the retreating +column. Cronje's men had made a night march of thirty miles from +Magersfontein, and the wagon bullocks were exhausted. It was impossible, +without an absolute abandonment of his guns and stores, for him to get +away from his pursuers. + +This was no deer which they were chasing, however, but rather a grim +old Transvaal wolf, with his teeth flashing ever over his shoulder. +The sight of those distant white-tilted wagons fired the blood of every +mounted infantryman, and sent the Oxfords, the Buffs, the West Ridings, +and the Gloucesters racing along the river bank in the glorious virile +air of an African morning. But there were kopjes ahead, sown with fierce +Dopper Boers, and those tempting wagons were only to be reached over +their bodies. The broad plain across which the English were hurrying was +suddenly swept with a storm of bullets. The long infantry line extended +yet further and lapped round the flank of the Boer position, and once +more the terrible duet of the Mauser and the Lee-Metford was sung while +the 81st field battery hurried up in time to add its deep roar to their +higher chorus. With fine judgment Cronje held on to the last moment of +safety, and then with a swift movement to the rear seized a further line +two miles off, and again snapped back at his eager pursuers. All day the +grim and weary rearguard stalled off the fiery advance of the infantry, +and at nightfall the wagons were still untaken. The pursuing force to +the north of the river was, it must be remembered, numerically inferior +to the pursued, so that in simply retarding the advance of the enemy and +in giving other British troops time to come up, Knox's brigade was doing +splendid work. Had Cronje been well advised or well informed, he would +have left his guns and wagons in the hope that by a swift dash over the +Modder he might still bring his army away in safety. He seems to have +underrated both the British numbers and the British activity. + +On the night then of Friday, February 16th, Cronje lay upon the northern +bank of the Modder, with his stores and guns still intact, and no enemy +in front of him, though Knox's brigade and Hannay's Mounted Infantry +were behind. It was necessary for Cronje to cross the river in order to +be on the line for Bloemfontein. As the river tended to the north +the sooner he could cross the better. On the south side of the river, +however, were considerable British forces, and the obvious strategy was +to hurry them forward and to block every drift at which he could get +over. The river runs between very deep banks, so steep that one might +almost describe them as small cliffs, and there was no chance of a +horseman, far less a wagon, crossing at any point save those where the +convenience of traffic and the use of years had worn sloping paths down +to the shallows. The British knew exactly therefore what the places +were which had to be blocked. On the use made of the next few hours the +success or failure of the whole operation must depend. + +The nearest drift to Cronje was only a mile or two distant, Klipkraal +the name; next to that the Paardeberg Drift; next to that the +Wolveskraal Drift, each about seven miles from the other. Had Cronje +pushed on instantly after the action, he might have got across at +Klipkraal. But men, horses, and bullocks were equally exhausted after +a long twenty-four hours' marching and fighting. He gave his weary +soldiers some hours' rest, and then, abandoning seventy-eight of his +wagons, he pushed on before daylight for the farthest off of the three +fords (Wolveskraal Drift). Could he reach and cross it before his +enemies, he was safe. The Klipkraal Drift had in the meanwhile been +secured by the Buffs, the West Ridings, and the Oxfordshire Light +Infantry after a spirited little action which, in the rapid rush of +events, attracted less attention than it deserved. The brunt of the +fighting fell upon the Oxfords, who lost ten killed and thirty-nine +wounded. It was not a waste of life, however, for the action, though +small and hardly recorded, was really a very essential one in the +campaign. + +But Lord Roberts's energy had infused itself into his divisional +commanders, his brigadiers, his colonels, and so down to the humblest +Tommy who tramped and stumbled through the darkness with a devout faith +that 'Bobs' was going to catch 'old Cronje' this time. The mounted +infantry had galloped round from the north to the south of the river, +crossing at Klip Drift and securing the southern end of Klipkraal. +Thither also came Stephenson's brigade from Kelly-Kenny's Division, +while Knox, finding in the morning that Cronje was gone, marched along +the northern bank to the same spot. As Klipkraal was safe, the +mounted infantry pushed on at once and secured the southern end of +the Paardeberg Drift, whither they were followed the same evening by +Stephenson and Knox. There remained only the Wolveskraal Drift to block, +and this had already been done by as smart a piece of work as any in the +war. Wherever French has gone he has done well, but his crowning glory +was the movement from Kimberley to head off Cronje's retreat. + +The exertions which the mounted men had made in the relief of Kimberley +have been already recorded. They arrived there on Thursday with their +horses dead beat. They were afoot at three o'clock on Friday morning, +and two brigades out of three were hard at work all day in an endeavour +to capture the Dronfield position. Yet when on the same evening an +order came that French should start again instantly from Kimberley and +endeavour to head Cronje's army off, he did not plead inability, as many +a commander might, but taking every man whose horse was still fit to +carry him (something under two thousand out of a column which had been +at least five thousand strong), he started within a few hours and pushed +on through the whole night. Horses died under their riders, but still +the column marched over the shadowy veld under the brilliant stars. By +happy chance or splendid calculation they were heading straight for +the one drift which was still open to Cronje. It was a close thing. At +midday on Saturday the Boer advance guard was already near to the kopjes +which command it. But French's men, still full of fight after their +march of thirty miles, threw themselves in front and seized the position +before their very eyes. The last of the drifts was closed. If Cronje +was to get across now, he must crawl out of his trench and fight under +Roberts's conditions, or he might remain under his own conditions until +Roberts's forces closed round him. With him lay the alternative. In the +meantime, still ignorant of the forces about him, but finding himself +headed off by French, he made his way down to the river and occupied +a long stretch of it between Paardeberg Drift and Wolveskraal Drift, +hoping to force his way across. This was the situation on the night of +Saturday, February 17th. + +In the course of that night the British brigades, staggering with +fatigue but indomitably resolute to crush their evasive enemy, were +converging upon Paardeberg. The Highland Brigade, exhausted by a heavy +march over soft sand from Jacobsdal to Klip Drift, were nerved to fresh +exertions by the word 'Magersfontein,' which flew from lip to lip along +the ranks, and pushed on for another twelve miles to Paardeberg. +Close at their heels came Smith-Dorrien's 19th Brigade, comprising the +Shropshires, the Cornwalls, the Gordons, and the Canadians, probably the +very finest brigade in the whole army. They pushed across the river and +took up their position upon the north bank. The old wolf was now fairly +surrounded. On the west the Highlanders were south of the river, and +Smith-Dorrien on the north. On the east Kelly-Kenny's Division was to +the south of the river, and French with his cavalry and mounted infantry +were to the north of it. Never was a general in a more hopeless plight. +Do what he would, there was no possible loophole for escape. + +There was only one thing which apparently should not have been done, and +that was to attack him. His position was a formidable one. Not only were +the banks of the river fringed with his riflemen under excellent cover, +but from these banks there extended on each side a number of dongas, +which made admirable natural trenches. The only possible attack from +either side must be across a level plain at least a thousand or fifteen +hundred yards in width, where our numbers would only swell our losses. +It must be a bold soldier and a far bolder civilian, who would venture +to question an operation carried out under the immediate personal +direction of Lord Kitchener; but the general consensus of opinion among +critics may justify that which might be temerity in the individual. Had +Cronje not been tightly surrounded, the action with its heavy losses +might have been justified as an attempt to hold him until his investment +should be complete. There seems, however, to be no doubt that he was +already entirely surrounded, and that, as experience proved, we had +only to sit round him to insure his surrender. It is not given to the +greatest man to have every soldierly gift equally developed, and it may +be said without offence that Lord Kitchener's cool judgment upon the +actual field of battle has not yet been proved as conclusively as his +longheaded power of organisation and his iron determination. + +Putting aside the question of responsibility, what happened on the +morning of Sunday, February 18th, was that from every quarter an assault +was urged across the level plains, to the north and to the south, upon +the lines of desperate and invisible men who lay in the dongas and +behind the banks of the river. Everywhere there was a terrible monotony +about the experiences of the various regiments which learned once again +the grim lessons of Colenso and Modder River. We surely did not need to +prove once more what had already been so amply proved, that bravery can +be of no avail against concealed riflemen well entrenched, and that the +more hardy is the attack the heavier must be the repulse. Over the long +circle of our attack Knox's brigade, Stephenson's brigade, the Highland +brigade, Smith-Dorrien's brigade all fared alike. In each case there was +the advance until they were within the thousand-yard fire zone, then the +resistless sleet of bullets which compelled them to get down and to +keep down. Had they even then recognised that they were attempting +the impossible, no great harm might have been done, but with generous +emulation the men of the various regiments made little rushes, company +by company, towards the river bed, and found themselves ever exposed to +a more withering fire. On the northern bank Smith-Dorrien's brigade, +and especially the Canadian regiment, distinguished themselves by the +magnificent tenacity with which they persevered in their attack. The +Cornwalls of the same brigade swept up almost to the river bank in a +charge which was the admiration of all who saw it. If the miners of +Johannesburg had given the impression that the Cornishman is not a +fighter, the record of the county regiment in the war has for ever +exploded the calumny. Men who were not fighters could have found no +place in Smith-Dorrien's brigade or in the charge of Paardeberg. + +While the infantry had been severely handled by the Boer riflemen, our +guns, the 76th, 81st, and 82nd field batteries, with the 65th howitzer +battery, had been shelling the river bed, though our artillery fire +proved as usual to have little effect against scattered and hidden +riflemen. At least, however, it distracted their attention, and made +their fire upon the exposed infantry in front of them less deadly. +Now, as in Napoleon's time, the effect of the guns is moral rather than +material. About midday French's horse-artillery guns came into action +from the north. Smoke and flames from the dongas told that some of our +shells had fallen among the wagons and their combustible stores. + +The Boer line had proved itself to be unshakable on each face, but at +its ends the result of the action was to push them up, and to shorten +the stretch of the river which was held by them. On the north bank +Smith-Dorrien's brigade gained a considerable amount of ground. At the +other end of the position the Welsh, Yorkshire, and Essex regiments of +Stephenson's brigade did some splendid work, and pushed the Boers for +some distance down the river bank. A most gallant but impossible charge +was made by Colonel Hannay and a number of mounted infantry against the +northern bank. He was shot with the majority of his followers. General +Knox of the 12th Brigade and General Macdonald of the Highlanders were +among the wounded. Colonel Aldworth of the Cornwalls died at the head of +his men. A bullet struck him dead as he whooped his West Countrymen on +to the charge. Eleven hundred killed and wounded testified to the fire +of our attack and the grimness of the Boer resistance. The distribution +of the losses among the various battalions--eighty among the Canadians, +ninety in the West Riding Regiment, one hundred and twenty in the +Seaforths, ninety in the Yorkshires, seventy-six in the Argyll +and Sutherlands, ninety-six in the Black Watch, thirty-one in +the Oxfordshires, fifty-six in the Cornwalls, forty-six in the +Shropshires--shows how universal was the gallantry, and especially how +well the Highland Brigade carried itself. It is to be feared that they +had to face, not only the fire of the enemy, but also that of their own +comrades on the further side of the river. A great military authority +has stated that it takes many years for a regiment to recover its spirit +and steadiness if it has been heavily punished, and yet within two +months of Magersfontein we find the indomitable Highlanders taking +without flinching the very bloodiest share of this bloody day--and this +after a march of thirty miles with no pause before going into action. +A repulse it may have been, but they hear no name of which they may be +more proud upon the victory scroll of their colours. + +What had we got in return for our eleven hundred casualties? We had +contracted the Boer position from about three miles to less than two. +So much was to the good, as the closer they lay the more effective our +artillery fire might be expected to be. But it is probable that our +shrapnel alone, without any loss of life, might have effected the same +thing. It is easy to be wise after the event, but it does certainly +appear that with our present knowledge the action at Paardeberg was as +unnecessary as it was expensive. The sun descended on Sunday, February +18th, upon a bloody field and crowded field hospitals, but also upon an +unbroken circle of British troops still hemming in the desperate men who +lurked among the willows and mimosas which drape the brown steep banks +of the Modder. + +There was evidence during the action of the presence of an active +Boer force to the south of us, probably the same well-handled and +enterprising body which had captured our convoy at Waterval. A small +party of Kitchener's Horse was surprised by this body, and thirty men +with four officers were taken prisoners. Much has been said of the +superiority of South African scouting to that of the British regulars, +but it must be confessed that a good many instances might be quoted +in which the colonials, though second to none in gallantry, have been +defective in that very quality in which they were expected to excel. + +This surprise of our cavalry post had more serious consequences than can +be measured by the loss of men, for by it the Boers obtained possession +of a strong kopje called Kitchener's Hill, lying about two miles distant +on the south-east of our position. The movement was an admirable one +strategically upon their part, for it gave their beleaguered comrades +a first station on the line of their retreat. Could they only win their +way to that kopje, a rearguard action might be fought from there which +would cover the escape of at least a portion of the force. De Wet, if +he was indeed responsible for the manoeuvres of these Southern Boers, +certainly handled his small force with a discreet audacity which marks +him as the born leader which he afterwards proved himself to be. + +If the position of the Boers was desperate on Sunday, it was hopeless on +Monday, for in the course of the morning Lord Roberts came up, closely +followed by the whole of Tucker's Division (7th) from Jacobsdal. Our +artillery also was strongly reinforced. The 18th, 62nd, and 75th field +batteries came up with three naval 4.7 guns and two naval 12-pounders. +Thirty-five thousand men with sixty guns were gathered round the little +Boer army. It is a poor spirit which will not applaud the supreme +resolution with which the gallant farmers held out, and award to Cronje +the title of one of the most grimly resolute leaders of whom we have any +record in modern history. + +For a moment it seemed as if his courage was giving way. On Monday +morning a message was transmitted by him to Lord Kitchener asking for a +twenty-four hours' armistice. The answer was of course a curt refusal. +To this he replied that if we were so inhuman as to prevent him from +burying his dead there was nothing for him save surrender. An answer was +given that a messenger with power to treat should be sent out, but in +the interval Cronje had changed his mind, and disappeared with a +snarl of contempt into his burrows. It had become known that women and +children were in the laager, and a message was sent offering them a +place of safety, but even to this a refusal was given. The reasons for +this last decision are inconceivable. + +Lord Roberts's dispositions were simple, efficacious, and above all +bloodless. Smith-Dorrien's brigade, who were winning in the Western army +something of the reputation which Hart's Irishmen had won in Natal, were +placed astride of the river to the west, with orders to push gradually +up, as occasion served, using trenches for their approach. Chermside's +brigade occupied the same position on the east. Two other divisions +and the cavalry stood round, alert and eager, like terriers round a +rat-hole, while all day the pitiless guns crashed their common shell, +their shrapnel, and their lyddite into the river-bed. Already down +there, amid slaughtered oxen and dead horses under a burning sun, a +horrible pest-hole had been formed which sent its mephitic vapours over +the countryside. Occasionally the sentries down the river saw amid the +brown eddies of the rushing water the floating body of a Boer which +had been washed away from the Golgotha above. Dark Cronje, betrayer of +Potchefstroom, iron-handed ruler of natives, reviler of the British, +stern victor of Magersfontein, at last there has come a day of reckoning +for you! + +On Wednesday, the 21st, the British, being now sure of their grip of +Cronje, turned upon the Boer force which had occupied the hill to the +south-east of the drift. It was clear that this force, unless driven +away, would be the vanguard of the relieving army which might be +expected to assemble from Ladysmith, Bloemfontein, Colesberg, or +wherever else the Boers could detach men. Already it was known that +reinforcements who had left Natal whenever they heard that the Free +State was invaded were drawing near. It was necessary to crush the +force upon the hill before it became too powerful. For this purpose the +cavalry set forth, Broadwood with the 10th Hussars, 12th Lancers, and +two batteries going round on one side, while French with the 9th and +16th Lancers, the Household Cavalry, and two other batteries skirted the +other. A force of Boers was met and defeated, while the defenders of the +hill were driven off with considerable loss. In this well-managed affair +the enemy lost at least a hundred, of whom fifty were prisoners. On +Friday, February 23rd, another attempt at rescue was made from the +south, but again it ended disastrously for the Boers. A party attacked +a kopje held by the Yorkshire regiment and were blown back by a volley, +upon which they made for a second kopje, where the Buffs gave them +an even rougher reception. Eighty prisoners were marched in. Meantime +hardly a night passed that some of the Boers did not escape from their +laager and give themselves up to our pickets. At the end of the week we +had taken six hundred in all. + +In the meantime the cordon was being drawn ever tighter, and the fire +became heavier and more deadly, while the conditions of life in that +fearful place were such that the stench alone might have compelled +surrender. Amid the crash of tropical thunderstorms, the glare of +lightning, and the furious thrashing of rain there was no relaxation of +British vigilance. A balloon floating overhead directed the fire, which +from day to day became more furious, culminating on the 26th with the +arrival of four 5-inch howitzers. But still there came no sign from the +fierce Boer and his gallant followers. Buried deep within burrows in the +river bank the greater part of them lay safe from the shells, but +the rattle of their musketry when the outposts moved showed that the +trenches were as alert as ever. The thing could only have one end, +however, and Lord Roberts, with admirable judgment and patience, refused +to hurry it at the expense of the lives of his soldiers. + +The two brigades at either end of the Boer lines had lost no chance of +pushing in, and now they had come within striking distance. On the night +of February 26th it was determined that Smith-Dorrien's men should try +their luck. The front trenches of the British were at that time seven +hundred yards from the Boer lines. They were held by the Gordons and +by the Canadians, the latter being the nearer to the river. It is worth +while entering into details as to the arrangement of the attack, as the +success of the campaign was at least accelerated by it. The orders were +that the Canadians were to advance, the Gordons to support, and the +Shropshires to take such a position on the left as would outflank any +counter attack upon the part of the Boers. The Canadians advanced in +the darkness of the early morning before the rise of the moon. The front +rank held their rifles in the left hand and each extended right hand +grasped the sleeve of the man next it. The rear rank had their rifles +slung and carried spades. Nearest the river bank were two companies (G +and H.) who were followed by the 7th company of Royal Engineers +carrying picks and empty sand bags. The long line stole through a pitchy +darkness, knowing that at any instant a blaze of fire such as flamed +before the Highlanders at Magersfontein might crash out in front of +them. A hundred, two, three, four, five hundred paces were taken. They +knew that they must be close upon the trenches. If they could only creep +silently enough, they might spring upon the defenders unannounced. On +and on they stole, step by step, praying for silence. Would the gentle +shuffle of feet be heard by the men who lay within stone-throw of them? +Their hopes had begun to rise when there broke upon the silence of the +night a resonant metallic rattle, the thud of a falling man, an empty +clatter! They had walked into a line of meat-cans slung upon a wire. By +measurement it was only ninety yards from the trench. At that instant a +single rifle sounded, and the Canadians hurled themselves down upon the +ground. Their bodies had hardly touched it when from a line six hundred +yards long there came one furious glare of rifle fire, with a hiss like +water on a red-hot plate, of speeding bullets. In that terrible red +light the men as they lay and scraped desperately for cover could see +the heads of the Boers pop up and down, and the fringe of rifle barrels +quiver and gleam. How the regiment, lying helpless under this fire, +escaped destruction is extraordinary. To rush the trench in the face of +such a continuous blast of lead seemed impossible, and it was equally +impossible to remain where they were. In a short time the moon would be +up, and they would be picked off to a man. The outer companies upon the +plain were ordered to retire. Breaking up into loose order, they made +their way back with surprisingly little loss; but a strange contretemps +occurred, for, leaping suddenly into a trench held by the Gordons, they +transfixed themselves upon the bayonets of the men. A subaltern and +twelve men received bayonet thrusts--none of them fortunately of a very +serious nature. + +While these events had been taking place upon the left of the line, +the right was hardly in better plight. All firing had ceased for the +moment--the Boers being evidently under the impression that the whole +attack had recoiled. Uncertain whether the front of the small party on +the right of the second line (now consisting of some sixty-five Sappers +and Canadians lying in one mingled line) was clear for firing should +the Boers leave their trenches, Captain Boileau, of the Sappers, crawled +forward along the bank of the river, and discovered Captain Stairs +and ten men of the Canadians, the survivors of the firing line, firmly +ensconced in a crevice of the river bank overlooking the laager, quite +happy on being reassured as to the proximity of support. This brought +the total number of the daring band up to seventy-five rifles. +Meanwhile, the Gordons, somewhat perplexed by the flying phantoms who +had been flitting into and over their trenches for the past few minutes, +sent a messenger along the river bank to ascertain, in their turn, if +their own front was clear to fire, and if not, what state the survivors +were in. To this message Colonel Kincaid, R.E., now in command of the +remains of the assaulting party, replied that his men would be well +entrenched by daylight. The little party had been distributed for +digging as well as the darkness and their ignorance of their exact +position to the Boers would permit. Twice the sound of the picks brought +angry volleys from the darkness, but the work was never stopped, and +in the early dawn the workers found not only that they were secure +themselves, but that they were in a position to enfilade over half a +mile of Boer trenches. Before daybreak the British crouched low in their +shelter, so that with the morning light the Boers did not realise the +change which the night had wrought. It was only when a burgher was shot +as he filled his pannikin at the river that they understood how their +position was overlooked. For half an hour a brisk fire was maintained, +at the end of which time a white flag went up from the trench. Kincaid +stood up on his parapet, and a single haggard figure emerged from the +Boer warren. 'The burghers have had enough; what are they to do?' said +he. As he spoke his comrades scrambled out behind him and came walking +and running over to the British lines. It was not a moment likely to +be forgotten by the parched and grimy warriors who stood up and cheered +until the cry came crashing back to them again from the distant British +camps. No doubt Cronje had already realised that the extreme limit +of his resistance was come, but it was to that handful of Sappers and +Canadians that the credit is immediately due for that white flag which +fluttered on the morning of Majuba Day over the lines of Paardeberg. + +It was six o'clock in the morning when General Pretyman rode up to Lord +Roberts's headquarters. Behind him upon a white horse was a dark-bearded +man, with the quick, restless eyes of a hunter, middle-sized, thickly +built, with grizzled hair flowing from under a tall brown felt hat. He +wore the black broadcloth of the burgher with a green summer overcoat, +and carried a small whip in his hands. His appearance was that of a +respectable London vestryman rather than of a most redoubtable soldier +with a particularly sinister career behind him. + +The Generals shook hands, and it was briefly intimated to Cronje that +his surrender must be unconditional, to which, after a short silence, +he agreed. His only stipulations were personal, that his wife, his +grandson, his secretary, his adjutant, and his servant might accompany +him. The same evening he was despatched to Cape Town, receiving those +honourable attentions which were due to his valour rather than to his +character. His men, a pallid ragged crew, emerged from their holes and +burrows, and delivered up their rifles. It is pleasant to add that, with +much in their memories to exasperate them, the British privates treated +their enemies with as large-hearted a courtesy as Lord Roberts had shown +to their leader. Our total capture numbered some three thousand of the +Transvaal and eleven hundred of the Free State. That the latter were not +far more numerous was due to the fact that many had already shredded +off to their farms. Besides Cronje, Wolverans of the Transvaal, and the +German artillerist Albrecht, with forty-four other field-cornets and +commandants, fell into our hands. Six small guns were also secured. The +same afternoon saw the long column of the prisoners on its way to Modder +River, there to be entrained for Cape Town, the most singular lot of +people to be seen at that moment upon earth--ragged, patched, grotesque, +some with goloshes, some with umbrellas, coffee-pots, and Bibles, their +favourite baggage. So they passed out of their ten days of glorious +history. + +A visit to the laager showed that the horrible smells which had been +carried across to the British lines, and the swollen carcasses which +had swirled down the muddy river were true portents of its condition. +Strong-nerved men came back white and sick from a contemplation of the +place in which women and children had for ten days been living. From end +to end it was a festering mass of corruption, overshadowed by incredible +swarms of flies. Yet the engineer who could face evil sights and +nauseous smells was repaid by an inspection of the deep narrow trenches +in which a rifleman could crouch with the minimum danger from shells, +and the caves in which the non-combatants remained in absolute safety. +Of their dead we have no accurate knowledge, but two hundred wounded in +a donga represented their losses, not only during a bombardment of ten +days, but also in that Paardeberg engagement which had cost us eleven +hundred casualties. No more convincing example could be adduced both of +the advantage of the defence over the attack, and of the harmlessness +of the fiercest shell fire if those who are exposed to it have space and +time to make preparations. + +A fortnight had elapsed since Lord Roberts had launched his forces from +Ramdam, and that fortnight had wrought a complete revolution in the +campaign. It is hard to recall any instance in the history of war where +a single movement has created such a change over so many different +operations. On February 14th Kimberley was in danger of capture, a +victorious Boer army was facing Methuen, the lines of Magersfontein +appeared impregnable, Clements was being pressed at Colesberg, Gatacre +was stopped at Stormberg, Buller could not pass the Tugela, and +Ladysmith was in a perilous condition. On the 28th Kimberley had +been relieved, the Boer army was scattered or taken, the lines of +Magersfontein were in our possession, Clements found his assailants +retiring before him, Gatacre was able to advance at Stormberg, Buller +had a weakening army in front of him, and Ladysmith was on the eve of +relief. And all this had been done at the cost of a very moderate loss +of life, for most of which Lord Roberts was in no sense answerable. Here +at last was a reputation so well founded that even South African warfare +could only confirm and increase it. A single master hand had in an +instant turned England's night to day, and had brought us out of that +nightmare of miscalculation and disaster which had weighed so long upon +our spirits. His was the master hand, but there were others at his +side without whom that hand might have been paralysed: Kitchener the +organiser, French the cavalry leader--to these two men, second only to +their chief, are the results of the operations due. Henderson, the most +capable head of Intelligence, and Richardson, who under all difficulties +fed the army, may each claim his share in the success. + + + +CHAPTER 20. ROBERTS'S ADVANCE ON BLOEMFONTEIN. + +The surrender of Cronje had taken place on February 27th, obliterating +for ever the triumphant memories which the Boers had for twenty years +associated with that date. A halt was necessary to provide food for the +hungry troops, and above all to enable the cavalry horses to pick up. +The supply of forage had been most inadequate, and the beasts had not +yet learned to find a living from the dry withered herbage of the veld. +[Footnote: A battery which turned out its horses to graze found that +the puzzled creatures simply galloped about the plain, and could only be +reassembled by blowing the call which they associated with feeding, when +they rushed back and waited in lines for their nosebags to be put on.] +In addition to this, they had been worked most desperately during the +fortnight which had elapsed. Lord Roberts waited therefore at Osfontein, +which is a farmhouse close to Paardeberg, until his cavalry were fit for +an advance. On March 6th he began his march for Bloemfontein. + +The force which had been hovering to the south and east of him during +the Paardeberg operations had meanwhile been reinforced from Colesberg +and from Ladysmith until it had attained considerable proportions. This +army, under the leadership of De Wet, had taken up a strong position a +few miles to the east, covering a considerable range of kopjes. On March +3rd a reconnaissance was made of it, in which some of our guns were +engaged; but it was not until three days later that the army +advanced with the intention of turning or forcing it. In the meantime +reinforcements had been arriving in the British camp, derived partly +from the regiments which had been employed at other points during these +operations, and partly from newcomers from the outer Empire. The Guards +came up from Klip Drift, the City Imperial Volunteers, the Australian +Mounted Infantry, the Burmese Mounted Infantry and a detachment of light +horse from Ceylon helped to form this strange invading army which was +drawn from five continents and yet had no alien in its ranks. + +The position which the enemy had taken up at Poplars Grove (so called +from a group of poplars round a farmhouse in the centre of their +position) extended across the Modder River and was buttressed on either +side by well-marked hills, with intermittent kopjes between. With guns, +trenches, rifle pits, and barbed wire a bull-headed general might have +found it another Magersfontein. But it is only just to Lord Roberts's +predecessors in command to say that it is easy to do things with three +cavalry brigades which it is difficult to do with two regiments. The +ultimate blame does not rest with the man who failed with the two +regiments, but with those who gave him inadequate means for the +work which he had to do. And in this estimate of means our military +authorities, our politicians, and our public were all in the first +instance equally mistaken. + +Lord Roberts's plan was absolutely simple, and yet, had it been carried +out as conceived, absolutely effective. It was not his intention to +go near any of that entanglement of ditch and wire which had been so +carefully erected for his undoing. The weaker party, if it be wise, +atones for its weakness by entrenchments. The stronger party, if it be +wise, leaves the entrenchments alone and uses its strength to go round +them. Lord Roberts meant to go round. With his immense preponderance +of men and guns the capture or dispersal of the enemy's army might be +reduced to a certainty. Once surrounded, they must either come out into +the open or they must surrender. + +On March 6th the cavalry were brought across the river, and in the early +morning of March 7th they were sent off in the darkness to sweep round +the left wing of the Boers and to establish themselves on the line of +their retreat. Kelly-Kenny's Division (6th) had orders to follow and +support this movement. Meanwhile Tucker was to push straight along the +southern bank of the river, though we may surmise that his instructions +were, in case of resistance, not to push his attack home. Colvile's 9th +Division, with part of the naval brigade, were north of the river, the +latter to shell the drifts in case the Boers tried to cross, and the +infantry to execute a turning movement which would correspond with that +of the cavalry on the other flank. + +The plan of action was based, however, upon one supposition which proved +to be fallacious. It was that after having prepared so elaborate a +position the enemy would stop at least a little time to defend it. +Nothing of the sort occurred, however, and on the instant that they +realised that the cavalry was on their flank they made off. The infantry +did not fire a shot. + +The result of this very decisive flight was to derange all calculations +entirely. The cavalry was not yet in its place when the Boer army +streamed off between the kopjes. One would have thought, however, that +they would have had a dash for the wagons and the guns, even if they +were past them. It is unfair to criticise a movement until one is +certain as to the positive orders which the leader may have received; +but on the face of it it is clear that the sweep of our cavalry was not +wide enough, and that they erred by edging to the left instead of to the +right, so leaving the flying enemies always to the outside of them. + +As it was, however, there seemed every possibility of their getting the +guns, but De Wet very cleverly covered them by his skirmishers. Taking +possession of a farmhouse on the right flank they kept up a spirited +fire upon the 16th Lancers and upon P battery R.H.A. When at last the +latter drove them out of their shelter, they again formed upon a low +kopje and poured so galling a fire upon the right wing that the whole +movement was interrupted until we had driven this little body of fifty +men from their position. When, after a delay of an hour, the cavalry at +last succeeded in dislodging them--or possibly it may be fairer to say +when, having accomplished their purpose, they retired--the guns +and wagons were out of reach, and, what is more important, the +two Presidents, both Steyn and Kruger, who had come to stiffen the +resistance of the burghers, had escaped. + +Making every allowance for the weary state of the horses, it is +impossible to say that our cavalry were handled with energy or judgment +on this occasion. That such a force of men and guns should be held off +from an object of such importance by so small a resistance reflects +no credit upon us. It would have been better to repeat the Kimberley +tactics and to sweep the regiments in extended order past the obstacle +if we could not pass over it. At the other side of that little +ill-defended kopje lay a possible termination of the war, and our crack +cavalry regiments manoeuvred for hours and let it pass out of their +reach. However, as Lord Roberts good-humouredly remarked at the end +of the action, 'In war you can't expect everything to come out right.' +General French can afford to shed one leaf from his laurel wreath. On +the other hand, no words can be too high for the gallant little band of +Boers who had the courage to face that overwhelming mass of horsemen, +and to bluff them into regarding this handful as a force fighting a +serious rearguard action. When the stories of the war are told round the +fires in the lonely veld farmhouses, as they will be for a century to +come, this one deserves an honoured place. + +The victory, if such a word can apply to such an action, had cost some +fifty or sixty of the cavalry killed and wounded, while it is doubtful +if the Boers lost as many. The finest military display on the British +side had been the magnificent marching of Kelly-Kenny's 6th Division, +who had gone for ten hours with hardly a halt. One 9-pound Krupp gun was +the only trophy. On the other hand, Roberts had turned them out of +their strong position, had gained twelve or fifteen miles on the road to +Bloemfontein, and for the first time shown how helpless a Boer army was +in country which gave our numbers a chance. From now onwards it was only +in surprise and ambuscade that they could hope for a success. We had +learned and they had learned that they could not stand in the open +field. + +The action of Poplars Grove was fought on March 7th. On the 9th the army +was again on its way, and on the 10th it attacked the new position which +the Boers had occupied at a place called Driefontein, or Abram's Kraal. +They covered a front of some seven miles in such a formation that their +wings were protected, the northern by the river and the southern by +flanking bastions of hill extending for some distance to the rear. If +the position had been defended as well as it had been chosen, the task +would have been a severe one. + +Since the Modder covered the enemy's right the turning movement could +only be developed on their left, and Tucker's Division was thrown +out very wide on that side for the purpose. But in the meanwhile a +contretemps had occurred which threw out and seriously hampered the +whole British line of battle. General French was in command of the left +wing, which included Kelly-Kenny's Division, the first cavalry brigade, +and Alderson's Mounted Infantry. His orders had been to keep in touch +with the centre, and to avoid pushing his attack home. In endeavouring +to carry out these instructions French moved his men more and more to +the right, until he had really squeezed in between the Boers and Lord +Roberts's central column, and so masked the latter. The essence of the +whole operation was that the frontal attack should not be delivered +until Tucker had worked round to the rear of the position. It is for +military critics to decide whether it was that the flankers were too +slow or the frontal assailants were too fast, but it is certain that +Kelly-Kenny's Division attacked before the cavalry and the 7th Division +were in their place. Kelly-Kenny was informed that the position in front +of him had been abandoned, and four regiments, the Buffs, the Essex, the +Welsh, and the Yorkshires, were advanced against it. They were passing +over the open when the crash of the Mauser fire burst out in front of +them, and the bullets hissed and thudded among the ranks. The ordeal was +a very severe one. The Yorkshires were swung round wide upon the right, +but the rest of the brigade, the Welsh Regiment leading, made a frontal +attack upon the ridge. It was done coolly and deliberately, the men +taking advantage of every possible cover. Boers could be seen leaving +their position in small bodies as the crackling, swaying line of the +British surged ever higher upon the hillside. At last, with a cheer, the +Welshmen with their Kent and Essex comrades swept over the crest into +the ranks of that cosmopolitan crew of sturdy adventurers who are known +as the Johannesburg Police. For once the loss of the defence was greater +than that of the attack. These mercenaries had not the instinct which +teaches the Boer the right instant for flight, and they held their +position too long to get away. The British had left four hundred men on +the track of that gallant advance, but the vast majority of them were +wounded--too often by those explosive or expansive missiles which make +war more hideous. Of the Boers we actually buried over a hundred on the +ridge, and their total casualties must have been considerably in excess +of ours. + +The action was strategically well conceived; all that Lord Roberts could +do for complete success had been done; but tactically it was a poor +affair, considering his enormous preponderance in men and guns. There +was no glory in it, save for the four regiments who set their faces +against that sleet of lead. The artillery did not do well, and were +browbeaten by guns which they should have smothered under their fire. +The cavalry cannot be said to have done well either. And yet, when all +is said, the action is an important one, for the enemy were badly shaken +by the result. The Johannesburg Police, who had been among their corps +d'elite, had been badly mauled, and the burghers were impressed by one +more example of the impossibility of standing in anything approaching +to open country against disciplined troops, Roberts had not captured the +guns, but the road had been cleared for him to Bloemfontein and, what +is more singular, to Pretoria; for though hundreds of miles intervene +between the field of Driefontein and the Transvaal capital, he never +again met a force which was willing to look his infantry in the eyes +in a pitched battle. Surprises and skirmishes were many, but it was the +last time, save only at Doornkop, that a chosen position was ever held +for an effective rifle fire--to say nothing of the push of bayonet. + +And now the army flowed swiftly onwards to the capital. The +indefatigable 6th Division, which had done march after march, one more +brilliant than another, since they had crossed the Riet River, reached +Asvogel Kop on the evening of Sunday, March 11th, the day after the +battle. On Monday the army was still pressing onwards, disregarding all +else and striking straight for the heart as Blucher struck at Paris in +1814. At midday they halted at the farm of Gregorowski, he who had tried +the Reform prisoners after the Raid. The cavalry pushed on down Kaal +Spruit, and in the evening crossed the Southern railway line which +connects Bloemfontein with the colony, cutting it at a point some five +miles from the town. In spite of some not very strenuous opposition from +a Boer force a hill was seized by a squadron of Greys with some mounted +infantry and Rimington's Guides, aided by U battery R.H.A., and was held +by them all that night. + +On the same evening Major Hunter-Weston, an officer who had already +performed at least one brilliant feat in the war, was sent with +Lieutenant Charles and a handful of Mounted Sappers and Hussars to cut +the line to the north. After a difficult journey on a very dark night +he reached his object and succeeded in finding and blowing up a culvert. +There is a Victoria Cross gallantry which leads to nothing save +personal decoration, and there is another and far higher gallantry of +calculation, which springs from a cool brain as well as a hot heart, +and it is from the men who possess this rare quality that great warriors +arise. Such feats as the cutting of this railway or the subsequent +saving of the Bethulie Bridge by Grant and Popham are of more service to +the country than any degree of mere valour untempered by judgment. +Among other results the cutting of the line secured for us twenty-eight +locomotives, two hundred and fifty trucks, and one thousand tons of +coal, all of which were standing ready to leave Bloemfontein station. +The gallant little band were nearly cut off on their return, but fought +their way through with the loss of two horses, and so got back in +triumph. + +The action of Driefontein was fought on the 10th. The advance began on +the morning of the 11th. On the morning of the 13th the British were +practically masters of Bloemfontein. The distance is forty miles. No one +can say that Lord Roberts cannot follow a victory up as well as win it. + +Some trenches had been dug and sangars erected to the north-west of +the town; but Lord Roberts, with his usual perverseness, took the wrong +turning and appeared upon the broad open plain to the south, where +resistance would have been absurd. Already Steyn and the irreconcilables +had fled from the town, and the General was met by a deputation of the +Mayor, the Landdrost, and Mr. Fraser to tender the submission of the +capital. Fraser, a sturdy clear-headed Highlander, had been the one +politician in the Free State who combined a perfect loyalty to his +adopted country with a just appreciation of what a quarrel A l'outrance +with the British Empire would mean. Had Fraser's views prevailed, the +Orange Free State would still exist as a happy and independent State. As +it is, he may help her to happiness and prosperity as the prime minister +of the Orange River Colony. + +It was at half-past one on Tuesday, March 13th, that General Roberts and +his troops entered Bloemfontein, amid the acclamations of many of the +inhabitants, who, either to propitiate the victor, or as a sign of their +real sympathies, had hoisted union jacks upon their houses. Spectators +have left it upon record how from all that interminable column of +yellow-clad weary men, worn with half rations and whole-day marches, +there came never one jeer, never one taunting or exultant word, as they +tramped into the capital of their enemies. The bearing of the troops was +chivalrous in its gentleness, and not the least astonishing sight to the +inhabitants was the passing of the Guards, the dandy troops of +England, the body-servants of the great Queen. Black with sun and dust, +staggering after a march of thirty-eight miles, gaunt and haggard, with +their clothes in such a state that decency demanded that some of the men +should be discreetly packed away in the heart of the dense column, they +still swung into the town with the aspect of Kentish hop-pickers and the +bearing of heroes. She, the venerable mother, could remember the bearded +ranks who marched past her when they came with sadly thinned files back +from the Crimean winter; even those gallant men could not have endured +more sturdily, nor have served her more loyally, than these their worthy +descendants. + +It was just a month after the start from Ramdam that Lord Roberts and +his army rode into the enemy's capital. Up to that period we had in +Africa Generals who were hampered for want of troops, and troops who +were hampered for want of Generals. Only when the Commander-in-Chief +took over the main army had we soldiers enough, and a man who knew +how to handle them. The result was one which has not only solved the +question of the future of South Africa, but has given an illustration of +strategy which will become classical to the military student. How brisk +was the course of events, how incessant the marching and fighting, +may be shown by a brief recapitulation. On February 13th cavalry and +infantry were marching to the utmost capacity of men and horses. On the +14th the cavalry were halted, but the infantry were marching hard. On +the 15th the cavalry covered forty miles, fought an action, and relieved +Kimberley. On the 16th the cavalry were in pursuit of the Boer guns all +day, and were off on a thirty-mile march to the Modder at night, while +the infantry were fighting Cronje's rearguard action, and closing up all +day. On the 17th the infantry were marching hard. On the 18th was the +battle of Paardeberg. From the 19th to the 27th was incessant fighting +with Cronje inside the laager and with De Wet outside. From the 28th to +March 6th was rest. On March 7th was the action of Poplars Grove with +heavy marching; on March 10th the battle of Driefontein. On the 11th +and 12th the infantry covered forty miles, and on the 13th were in +Bloemfontein. All this was accomplished by men on half-rations, with +horses which could hardly be urged beyond a walk, in a land where water +is scarce and the sun semi-tropical, each infantryman carrying a weight +of nearly forty pounds. There are few more brilliant achievements in the +history of British arms. The tactics were occasionally faulty, and the +battle of Paardeberg was a blot upon the operations; but the strategy of +the General and the spirit of the soldier were alike admirable. + + + +CHAPTER 21. STRATEGIC EFFECTS OF LORD ROBERTS'S MARCH. + +From the moment that Lord Roberts with his army advanced from Ramdam +all the other British forces in South Africa, the Colesberg force, the +Stormberg force, Brabant's force, and the Natal force, had the pressure +relieved in front of them, a tendency which increased with every fresh +success of the main body. A short chapter must be devoted to following +rapidly the fortunes of these various armies, and tracing the effect of +Lord Roberts's strategy upon their movements. They may be taken in turn +from west to east. + +The force under General Clements (formerly French's) had, as has already +been told, been denuded of nearly all its cavalry and horse artillery, +and so left in the presence of a very superior body of the enemy. Under +these circumstances Clements had to withdraw his immensely extended +line, and to concentrate at Arundel, closely followed by the elated +enemy. The situation was a more critical one than has been appreciated +by the public, for if the force had been defeated the Boers would have +been in a position to cut Lord Roberts's line of communications, and the +main army would have been in the air. Much credit is due, not only to +General Clements, but to Carter of the Wiltshires, Hacket Pain of the +Worcesters, Butcher of the 4th R.F.A., the admirable Australians, and +all the other good men and true who did their best to hold the gap for +the Empire. + +The Boer idea of a strong attack upon this point was strategically +admirable, but tactically there was not sufficient energy in pushing +home the advance. The British wings succeeded in withdrawing, and the +concentrated force at Arundel was too strong for attack. Yet there was +a time of suspense, a time when every man had become of such importance +that even fifty Indian syces were for the first and last time in the +war, to their own supreme gratification, permitted for twenty-four hours +to play their natural part as soldiers. [Footnote: There was something +piteous in the chagrin of these fine Sikhs at being held back from their +natural work as soldiers. A deputation of them waited upon Lord Roberts +at Bloemfontein to ask, with many salaams, whether 'his children were +not to see one little fight before they returned.'] But then with the +rapid strokes in front the hour of danger passed, and the Boer advance +became first a halt and then a retreat. + +On February 27th, Major Butcher, supported by the Inniskillings and +Australians, attacked Rensburg and shelled the enemy out of it. Next +morning Clements's whole force had advanced from Arundel and took up +its old position. The same afternoon it was clear that the Boers were +retiring, and the British, following them up, marched into Colesberg, +around which they had manoeuvred so long. A telegram from Steyn to De +Wet found in the town told the whole story of the retirement: 'As long +as you are able to hold the positions you are in with the men you have, +do so. If not, come here as quickly as circumstances will allow, as +matters here are taking a serious turn.' The whole force passed over +the Orange River unimpeded, and blew up the Norval's Pont railway bridge +behind it. Clements's brigade followed on March 4th, and succeeded in +the course of a week in throwing a pontoon bridge over the river and +crossing into the Orange Free State. Roberts having in the meanwhile +seized Bloemfontein, communication was restored by railway between the +forces, and Clements was despatched to Phillipolis, Fauresmith, and +the other towns in the south-west to receive the submission of the +inhabitants and to enforce their disarmament. In the meantime the +Engineers worked furiously at the restoration of the railway bridge over +the Orange River, which was not, however, accomplished until some weeks +later. + +During the long period which had elapsed since the repulse at Stormberg, +General Gatacre had held his own at Sterkstroom, under orders not to +attack the enemy, repulsing them easily upon the only occasion when +they ventured to attack him. Now it was his turn also to profit by the +success which Lord Roberts had won. On February 23rd he re-occupied +Molteno, and on the same day sent out a force to reconnoitre the enemy's +position at Stormberg. The incident is memorable as having been the +cause of the death of Captain de Montmorency [Footnote: De Montmorency +had established a remarkable influence over his rough followers. To the +end of the war they could not speak of him without tears in their eyes. +When I asked Sergeant Howe why his captain went almost alone up the +hill, his answer was, 'Because the captain knew no fear.' Byrne, his +soldier servant (an Omdurman V.C. like his master), galloped madly off +next morning with a saddled horse to bring back his captain alive or +dead, and had to be forcibly seized and restrained by our cavalry. ], +one of the most promising of the younger officers of the British army. +He had formed a corps of scouts, consisting originally of four men, +but soon expanding to seventy or eighty. At the head of these men he +confirmed the reputation for desperate valour which he had won in the +Soudan, and added to it proofs of the enterprise and judgment which go +to make a leader of light cavalry. In the course of the reconnaissance +he ascended a small kopje accompanied by three companions, Colonel +Hoskier, a London Volunteer soldier, Vice, a civilian, and Sergeant +Howe. 'They are right on the top of us,' he cried to his comrades, as he +reached the summit, and dropped next instant with a bullet through his +heart. Hoskier was shot in five places, and Vice was mortally wounded, +only Howe escaping. The rest of the scouts, being farther back, were +able to get cover and to keep up a fight until they were extricated by +the remainder of the force. Altogether our loss was formidable rather in +quality than in quantity, for not more than a dozen were hit, while the +Boers suffered considerably from the fire of our guns. + +On March 5th General Gatacre found that the Boers were retreating in +front of him--in response, no doubt, to messages similar to those which +had already been received at Colesberg. Moving forward he occupied the +position which had confronted him so long. Thence, having spent some +days in drawing in his scattered detachments and in mending the railway, +he pushed forward on March 12th to Burghersdorp, and thence on the 13th +to Olive Siding, to the south of the Bethulie Bridge. + +There are two bridges which span the broad muddy Orange River, thick +with the washings of the Basutoland mountains. One of these is +the magnificent high railway bridge, already blown to ruins by the +retreating Boers. Dead men or shattered horses do not give a more vivid +impression of the unrelenting brutality of war than the sight of a +structure, so graceful and so essential, blown into a huge heap of +twisted girders and broken piers. Half a mile to the west is the road +bridge, broad and old-fashioned. The only hope of preserving some mode +of crossing the difficult river lay in the chance that the troops might +anticipate the Boers who were about to destroy this bridge. + +In this they were singularly favoured by fortune. On the arrival of a +small party of scouts and of the Cape Police under Major Nolan-Neylan at +the end of the bridge it was found that all was ready to blow it up, the +mine sunk, the detonator fixed, and the wire laid. Only the connection +between the wire and the charge had not been made. To make sure, the +Boers had also laid several boxes of dynamite under the last span, +in case the mine should fail in its effect. The advance guard of the +Police, only six in number, with Nolan-Neylan at their head, threw +themselves into a building which commanded the approaches of the bridge, +and this handful of men opened so spirited and well-aimed a fire that +the Boers were unable to approach it. As fresh scouts and policemen came +up they were thrown into the firing line, and for a whole long day they +kept the destroyers from the bridge. Had the enemy known how weak they +were and how far from supports, they could have easily destroyed them, +but the game of bluff was admirably played, and a fire kept up which +held the enemy to their rifle pits. + +The Boers were in a trench commanding the bridge, and their brisk fire +made it impossible to cross. On the other hand, our rifle fire commanded +the mine and prevented any one from exploding it. But at the approach of +darkness it was certain that this would be done. The situation was saved +by the gallantry of young Popham of the Derbyshires, who crept across +with two men and removed the detonators. There still remained the +dynamite under the further span, and this also they removed, carrying it +off across the bridge under a heavy fire. The work was made absolutely +complete a little later by the exploit of Captain Grant of the Sappers, +who drew the charges from the holes in which they had been sunk, and +dropped them into the river, thus avoiding the chance that they might be +exploded next morning by shell fire. The feat of Popham and of Grant was +not only most gallant but of extraordinary service to the country; but +the highest credit belongs to Nolan-Neylan, of the Police, for the great +promptitude and galantry of his attack, and to McNeill for his support. +On that road bridge and on the pontoon bridge at Norval's Pont Lord +Roberts's army was for a whole month dependent for their supplies. + +On March 15th Gatacre's force passed over into the Orange Free State, +took possession of Bethulie, and sent on the cavalry to Springfontein, +which is the junction where the railways from Cape Town and from East +London meet. Here they came in contact with two battalions of Guards +under Pole-Carew, who had been sent down by train from Lord Roberts's +force in the north. With Roberts at Bloemfontein, Gatacre at +Springfontein, Clements in the south-west, and Brabant at Aliwal, the +pacification of the southern portion of the Free State appeared to be +complete. Warlike operations seemed for the moment to be at an end, and +scattered parties traversed the country, 'bill-sticking,' as the troops +called it--that is, carrying Lord Roberts's proclamation to the lonely +farmhouses and outlying villages. + +In the meantime the colonial division of that fine old African fighter, +General Brabant, had begun to play its part in the campaign. Among the +many judicious arrangements which Lord Roberts made immediately after +his arrival at the Cape was the assembling of the greater part of +the scattered colonial bands into one division, and placing over it a +General of their own, a man who had defended the cause of the Empire +both in the legislative assembly and the field. To this force was +entrusted the defence of the country lying to the east of Gatacre's +position, and on February 15th they advanced from Penhoek upon +Dordrecht. Their Imperial troops consisted of the Royal Scots and +a section of the 79th R.F.A., the Colonial of Brabant's Horse, the +Kaffrarian Mounted Rifles, the Cape Mounted Rifles and Cape Police, with +Queenstown and East London Volunteers. The force moved upon Dordrecht, +and on February 18th occupied the town after a spirited action, in which +Brabant's Horse played a distinguished part. On March 4th the division +advanced once more with the object of attacking the Boer position at +Labuschagne's Nek, some miles to the north. + +Aided by the accurate fire of the 79th R.F.A., the colonials succeeded, +after a long day of desultory fighting, in driving the enemy from +his position. Leaving a garrison in Dordrecht Brabant followed up his +victory and pushed forward with two thousand men and eight guns (six +of them light 7-pounders) to occupy Jamestown, which was done without +resistance. On March 10th the colonial force approached Aliwal, the +frontier town, and so rapid was the advance of Major Henderson with +Brabant's Horse that the bridge at Aliwal was seized before the enemy +could blow it up. At the other side of the bridge there was a strong +stand made by the enemy, who had several Krupp guns in position; but +the light horse, in spite of a loss of some twenty-five men killed and +wounded, held on to the heights which command the river. A week or ten +days were spent in pacifying the large north-eastern portion of Cape +Colony, to which Aliwal acts as a centre. Barkly East, Herschel, Lady +Grey, and other villages were visited by small detachments of the +colonial horsemen, who pushed forward also into the south-eastern +portion of the Free State, passing through Rouxville, and so along the +Basutoland border as far as Wepener. The rebellion in the Colony was +now absolutely dead in the north-east, while in the north-west in the +Prieska and Carnarvon districts it was only kept alive by the fact that +the distances were so great and the rebel forces so scattered that it +was very difficult for our flying columns to reach them. Lord Kitchener +had returned from Paardeberg to attend to this danger upon our line of +communications, and by his exertions all chance of its becoming serious +soon passed. With a considerable force of Yeomanry and Cavalry he passed +swiftly over the country, stamping out the smouldering embers. + +So much for the movements into the Free State of Clements, of Gatacre, +and of Brabant. It only remains to trace the not very eventful history +of the Natal campaign after the relief of Ladysmith. + +General Buller made no attempt to harass the retreat of the Boers, +although in two days no fewer than two thousand wagons were counted upon +the roads to Newcastle and Dundee. The guns had been removed by train, +the railway being afterwards destroyed. Across the north of Natal lies +the chain of the Biggarsberg mountains, and to this the Transvaal Boers +had retired, while the Freestaters had hurried through the passes of the +Drakensberg in time to make the fruitless opposition to Roberts's +march upon their capital. No accurate information had come in as to the +strength of the Transvaalers, the estimates ranging from five to ten +thousand, but it was known that their position was formidable and their +guns mounted in such a way as to command the Dundee and Newcastle roads. + +General Lyttelton's Division had camped as far out as Elandslaagte with +Burn Murdoch's cavalry, while Dundonald's brigade covered the space +between Burn Murdoch's western outposts and the Drakensberg passes. +Few Boers were seen, but it was known that the passes were held in some +strength. Meanwhile the line was being restored in the rear, and on +March 9th the gallant White was enabled to take train for Durban, though +it was not until ten days later that the Colenso bridge was restored. +The Ladysmith garrison had been sent down to Colenso to recruit their +health. There they were formed into a new division, the 4th, the +brigades being given to Howard and Knox, and the command to Lyttelton, +who had returned his former division, the second, to Clery. The 5th and +6th brigades were also formed into one division, the 10th, which was +placed under the capable command of Hunter, who had confirmed in the +south the reputation which he had won in the north of Africa. In the +first week of April Hunter's Division was sent down to Durban and +transferred to the western side, where they were moved up to Kimberley, +whence they advanced northwards. The man on the horse has had in this +war an immense advantage over the man on foot, but there have been times +when the man on the ship has restored the balance. Captain Mahan might +find some fresh texts in the transference of Hunter's Division, or in +the subsequent expedition to Beira. + +On April 10th the Boers descended from their mountains and woke up our +sleepy army corps by a brisk artillery fire. Our own guns silenced +it, and the troops instantly relapsed into their slumber. There was no +movement for a fortnight afterwards upon either side, save that of Sir +Charles Warren, who left the army in order to take up the governorship +of British Bechuanaland, a district which was still in a disturbed +state, and in which his presence had a peculiar significance, since he +had rescued portions of it from Boer domination in the early days of the +Transvaal Republic. Hildyard took over the command of the 5th Division. +In this state of inertia the Natal force remained until Lord Roberts, +after a six weeks' halt in Bloemfontein, necessitated by the insecurity +of his railway communication and his want of every sort of military +supply, more especially horses for his cavalry and boots for his +infantry, was at last able on May 2nd to start upon his famous march +to Pretoria. Before accompanying him, however, upon this victorious +progress, it is necessary to devote a chapter to the series of incidents +and operations which had taken place to the east and south-east of +Bloemfontein during this period of compulsory inactivity. + +One incident must be recorded in this place, though it was political +rather than military. This was the interchange of notes concerning peace +between Paul Kruger and Lord Salisbury. There is an old English jingle +about 'the fault of the Dutch, giving too little and asking too much,' +but surely there was never a more singular example of it than this. +The united Presidents prepare for war for years, spring an insulting +ultimatum upon us, invade our unfortunate Colonies, solemnly annex all +the portions invaded, and then, when at last driven back, propose a +peace which shall secure for them the whole point originally at issue. +It is difficult to believe that the proposals could have been seriously +meant, but more probable that the plan may have been to strengthen the +hands of the Peace deputation who were being sent to endeavour to secure +European intervention. Could they point to a proposal from the Transvaal +and a refusal from England, it might, if not too curiously examined, +excite the sympathy of those who follow emotions rather than facts. + +The documents were as follow:-- + +'The Presidents of the Orange Free State and of the South African +Republic to the Marquess of Salisbury. Bloemfontein March 5th, 1900. + +'The blood and the tears of the thousands who have suffered by this war, +and the prospect of all the moral and economic ruin with which South +Africa is now threatened, make it necessary for both belligerents to +ask themselves dispassionately and as in the sight of the Triune God for +what they are fighting and whether the aim of each justifies all this +appalling misery and devastation. + +'With this object, and in view of the assertions of various British +statesmen to the effect that this war was begun and is carried on with +the set purpose of undermining Her Majesty's authority in South Africa, +and of setting up an administration over all South Africa independent +of Her Majesty's Government, we consider it our duty to solemnly declare +that this war was undertaken solely as a defensive measure to safeguard +the threatened independence of the South African Republic, and is +only continued in order to secure and safeguard the incontestable +independence of both Republics as sovereign international States, and to +obtain the assurance that those of Her Majesty's subjects who have taken +part with us in this war shall suffer no harm whatsoever in person or +property. + +'On these conditions, but on these conditions alone, are we now as in +the past desirous of seeing peace re-established in South Africa, and +of putting an end to the evils now reigning over South Africa; while, +if Her Majesty's Government is determined to destroy the independence +of the Republics, there is nothing left to us and to our people but +to persevere to the end in the course already begun, in spite of the +overwhelming pre-eminence of the British Empire, conscious that that +God who lighted the inextinguishable fire of the love of freedom in our +hearts and those of our fathers will not forsake us, but will accomplish +His work in us and in our descendants. + +'We hesitated to make this declaration earlier to your Excellency as +we feared that, as long as the advantage was always on our side, and +as long as our forces held defensive positions far in Her Majesty's +Colonies, such a declaration might hurt the feelings of honour of the +British people. But now that the prestige of the British Empire may be +considered to be assured by the capture of one of our forces, and that +we are thereby forced to evacuate other positions which we had occupied, +that difficulty is over and we can no longer hesitate to inform your +Government and people in the sight of the whole civilised world why we +are fighting and on what conditions we are ready to restore peace.' + +Such was the message, deep in its simplicity and cunning in its candour, +which was sent by the old President, for it is Kruger's style which we +read in every line of it. One has to get back to facts after reading +it, to the enormous war preparations of the Republics, to the unprepared +state of the British Colonies, to the ultimatum, to the annexations, to +the stirring up of rebellion, to the silence about peace in the days of +success, to the fact that by 'inextinguishable love of freedom' is meant +inextinguishable determination to hold other white men as helots--only +then can we form a just opinion of the worth of his message. One must +remember also, behind the homely and pious phraseology, that one is +dealing with a man who has been too cunning for us again and again--a +man who is as wily as the savages with whom he has treated and fought. +This Paul Kruger with the simple words of peace is the same Paul Kruger +who with gentle sayings insured the disarmament of Johannesburg, and +then instantly arrested his enemies--the man whose name was a by-word +for 'slimness' [craftiness] throughout South Africa. With such a man the +best weapon is absolute naked truth with which Lord Salisbury confronted +him in his reply:-- + +Foreign Office: March 11th. + +'I have the honour to acknowledge your Honours' telegram dated March 5th +from Bloemfontein, of which the purport was principally to demand +that Her Majesty's Government shall recognise the "incontestable +independence" of the South African Republic and Orange Free State as +"sovereign international States," and to offer on those terms to bring +the war to a conclusion. + +'In the beginning of October last peace existed between Her Majesty and +the two Republics under the conventions which then were in existence. +A discussion had been proceeding for some months between Her Majesty's +Government and the South African Republic, of which the object was to +obtain redress for certain very serious grievances under which British +residents in the Republic were suffering. In the course of those +negotiations the Republic had, to the knowledge of Her Majesty's +Government, made considerable armaments, and the latter had consequently +taken steps to provide corresponding reinforcements to the British +garrisons of Cape Town and Natal. No infringement of the rights +guaranteed by the conventions had up to that time taken place on the +British side. Suddenly, at two days' notice, the South African Republic, +after issuing an insulting ultimatum, declared war, and the Orange Free +State with whom there had not even been any discussion, took a similar +step. Her Majesty's dominions were immediately invaded by the two +Republics, siege was laid to three towns within the British frontier, a +large portion of the two Colonies was overrun with great destruction to +property and life, and the Republics claimed to treat the inhabitants +as if those dominions had been annexed to one or other of them. In +anticipation of these operations the South African Republic had been +accumulating for many years past military stores upon an enormous scale, +which by their character could only have been intended for use against +Great Britain. + +'Your Honours make some observations of a negative character upon +the object with which these preparations were made. I do not think it +necessary to discuss the questions which you have raised. But the result +of these preparations, carried on with great secrecy, has been that +the British Empire has been compelled to confront an invasion which has +entailed a costly war and the loss of thousands of precious lives. This +great calamity has been the penalty which Great Britain has suffered for +having in recent years acquiesced in the existence of the two Republics. + +'In view of the use to which the two Republics have put the position +which was given to them, and the calamities which their unprovoked +attack has inflicted upon Her Majesty's dominions, Her Majesty's +Government can only answer your Honours' telegram by saying that they +are not prepared to assent to the independence either of the South +African Republic or of the Orange Free State.' + +With this frank and uncompromising reply the Empire, with the exception +of a small party of dupes and doctrinaires, heartily agreed. The pens +were dropped, and the Mauser and the Lee-Metford once more took up the +debate. + + + +CHAPTER 22. THE HALT AT BLOEMFONTEIN. + +On March 13th Lord Roberts occupied the capital of the Orange Free +State. On May 1st, more than six weeks later, the advance was resumed. +This long delay was absolutely necessary in order to supply the place of +the ten thousand horses and mules which are said to have been used up in +the severe work of the preceding month. It was not merely that a large +number of the cavalry chargers had died or been abandoned, but it was +that of those which remained the majority were in a state which made +them useless for immediate service. How far this might have been +avoided is open to question, for it is notorious that General French's +reputation as a horsemaster does not stand so high as his fame as a +cavalry leader. But besides the horses there was urgent need of every +sort of supply, from boots to hospitals, and the only way by which +they could come was by two single-line railways which unite into one +single-line railway, with the alternative of passing over a precarious +pontoon bridge at Norval's Pont, or truck by truck over the road bridge +at Bethulie. To support an army of fifty thousand men under these +circumstances, eight hundred miles from a base, is no light matter, and +a premature advance which could not be thrust home would be the greatest +of misfortunes. The public at home and the army in Africa became +restless under the inaction, but it was one more example of the absolute +soundness of Lord Roberts's judgment and the quiet resolution with which +he adheres to it. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of the +Free State promising protection to all who should bring in their arms +and settle down upon their farms. The most stringent orders were issued +against looting or personal violence, but nothing could exceed the +gentleness and good humour of the troops. Indeed there seemed more need +for an order which should protect them against the extortion of their +conquered enemies. It is strange to think that we are separated by only +ninety years from the savage soldiery of Badajoz and San Sebastian. + +The streets of the little Dutch town formed during this interval a +curious object-lesson in the resources of the Empire. All the scattered +Anglo-Celtic races had sent their best blood to fight for the common +cause. Peace is the great solvent, as war is the powerful unifier. +For the British as for the German Empire much virtue had come from +the stress and strain of battle. To stand in the market square of +Bloemfontein and to see the warrior types around you was to be assured +of the future of the race. The middle-sized, square-set, weather-tanned, +straw-bearded British regulars crowded the footpaths. There also +one might see the hard-faced Canadians, the loose-limbed dashing +Australians, fireblooded and keen, the dark New Zealanders, with a Maori +touch here and there in their features, the gallant men of Tasmania, the +gentlemen troopers of India and Ceylon, and everywhere the wild South +African irregulars with their bandoliers and unkempt wiry horses, +Rimington's men with the racoon bands, Roberts's Horse with the black +plumes, some with pink puggarees, some with birdseye, but all of the +same type, hard, rugged, and alert. The man who could look at these +splendid soldiers, and, remembering the sacrifices of time, money, +and comfort which most of them had made before they found themselves +fighting in the heart of Africa, doubt that the spirit of the race +burned now as brightly as ever, must be devoid of judgment and sympathy. +The real glories of the British race lie in the future, not in the past. +The Empire walks, and may still walk, with an uncertain step, but with +every year its tread will be firmer, for its weakness is that of waxing +youth and not of waning age. + +The greatest misfortune of the campaign, one which it was obviously +impolitic to insist upon at the time, began with the occupation of +Bloemfontein. This was the great outbreak of enteric among the troops. +For more than two months the hospitals were choked with sick. One +general hospital with five hundred beds held seventeen hundred sick, +nearly all enterics. A half field hospital with fifty beds held three +hundred and seventy cases. The total number of cases could not have +been less than six or seven thousand--and this not of an evanescent and +easily treated complaint, but of the most persistent and debilitating +of continued fevers, the one too which requires the most assiduous +attention and careful nursing. How great was the strain only those who +had to meet it can tell. The exertions of the military hospitals and +of those others which were fitted out by private benevolence sufficed, +after a long struggle, to meet the crisis. At Bloemfontein alone, as +many as fifty men died in one day, and more than 1000 new graves in the +cemetery testify to the severity of the epidemic. No men in the campaign +served their country more truly than the officers and men of the medical +service, nor can any one who went through the epidemic forget the +bravery and unselfishness of those admirable nursing sisters who set the +men around them a higher standard of devotion to duty. + +Enteric fever is always endemic in the country, and especially at +Bloemfontein, but there can be no doubt that this severe outbreak had +its origin in the Paardeberg water. All through the campaign, while the +machinery for curing disease was excellent, that for preventing it was +elementary or absent. If bad water can cost us more than all the bullets +of the enemy, then surely it is worth our while to make the drinking +of unboiled water a stringent military offence, and to attach to every +company and squadron the most rapid and efficient means for boiling +it--for filtering alone is useless. An incessant trouble it would be, +but it would have saved a division for the army. It is heartrending +for the medical man who has emerged from a hospital full of water-born +pestilence to see a regimental watercart being filled, without protest, +at some polluted wayside pool. With precautions and with inoculation all +those lives might have been saved. The fever died down with the advance +of the troops and the coming of the colder weather. + +To return to the military operations: these, although they were +stagnant so far as the main army was concerned, were exceedingly and +inconveniently active in other quarters. Three small actions, two of +which were disastrous to our arms, and one successful defence marked the +period of the pause at Bloemfontein. + +To the north of the town, some twelve miles distant lies the ubiquitous +Modder River, which is crossed by a railway bridge at a place named +Glen. The saving of the bridge was of considerable importance, and might +by the universal testimony of the farmers of that district have been +effected any time within the first few days of our occupation. We +appear, however, to have imperfectly appreciated how great was the +demoralisation of the Boers. In a week or so they took heart, returned, +and blew up the bridge. Roving parties of the enemy, composed mainly of +the redoubtable Johannesburg police, reappeared even to the south of the +river. Young Lygon was killed, and Colonels Crabbe and Codrington with +Captain Trotter, all of the Guards, were severely wounded by such a +body, whom they gallantly but injudiciously attempted to arrest when +armed only with revolvers. + +These wandering patrols who kept the country unsettled, and harassed +the farmers who had taken advantage of Lord Roberts's proclamation, were +found to have their centre at a point some six miles to the north of +Glen, named Karee. At Karee a formidable line of hills cut the British +advance, and these had been occupied by a strong body of the enemy +with guns. Lord Roberts determined to drive them off, and on March 28th +Tucker's 7th Division, consisting of Chermside's brigade (Lincolns, +Norfolks, Hampshires, and Scottish Borderers), and Wavell's brigade +(Cheshires, East Lancashires, North Staffords, and South Wales +Borderers), were assembled at Glen. The artillery consisted of the +veteran 18th, 62nd, and 75th R.F.A. Three attenuated cavalry brigades +with some mounted infantry completed the force. + +The movement was to be upon the old model, and in result it proved to +be only too truly so. French's cavalry were to get round one flank, Le +Gallais's mounted infantry round the other, and Tucker's Division to +attack in front. Nothing could be more perfect in theory and nothing +apparently more defective in practice. Since on this as on other +occasions the mere fact that the cavalry were demonstrating in the rear +caused the complete abandonment of the position, it is difficult to +see what the object of the infantry attack could be. The ground was +irregular and unexplored, and it was late before the horsemen on their +weary steeds found themselves behind the flank of the enemy. Some of +them, Le Gallais's mounted infantry and Davidson's guns, had come from +Bloemfontein during the night, and the horses were exhausted by the long +march, and by the absurd weight which the British troop-horse is asked +to carry. Tucker advanced his infantry exactly as Kelly-Kenny had done +at Driefontein, and with a precisely similar result. The eight regiments +going forward in echelon of battalions imagined from the silence of the +enemy that the position had been abandoned. They were undeceived by a +cruel fire which beat upon two companies of the Scottish Borderers from +a range of two hundred yards. They were driven back, but reformed in +a donga. About half-past two a Boer gun burst shrapnel over the +Lincolnshires and Scottish Borderers with some effect, for a single +shell killed five of the latter regiment. Chermside's brigade was now +all involved in the fight, and Wavell's came up in support, but the +ground was too open and the position too strong to push the attack home. +Fortunately, about four o'clock, the horse batteries with French began +to make their presence felt from behind, and the Boers instantly quitted +their position and made off through the broad gap which still remained +between French and Le Gallais. The Brandfort plain appears to be ideal +ground for cavalry, but in spite of that the enemy with his guns got +safely away. The loss of the infantry amounted to one hundred and sixty +killed and wounded, the larger share of the casualties and of the honour +falling to the Scottish Borderers and the East Lancashires. The +infantry was not well handled, the cavalry was slow, and the guns were +inefficient--altogether an inglorious day. Yet strategically it was of +importance, for the ridge captured was the last before one came to the +great plain which stretched, with a few intermissions, to the north. +From March 29th until May 2nd Karee remained the advanced post. + +In the meanwhile there had been a series of operations in the east which +had ended in a serious disaster. Immediately after the occupation of +Bloemfontein (on March 18th) Lord Roberts despatched to the east a +small column consisting of the 10th Hussars, the composite regiment, +two batteries (Q and U) of the Horse Artillery, some mounted infantry, +Roberts's Horse, and Rimington's Guides. On the eastern horizon forty +miles from the capital, but in that clear atmosphere looking only half +the distance, there stands the impressive mountain named Thabanchu (the +black mountain). To all Boers it is an historical spot, for it was at +its base that the wagons of the Voortrekkers, coming by devious ways +from various parts, assembled. On the further side of Thabanchu, to the +north and east of it, lies the richest grain-growing portion of the Free +State, the centre of which is Ladybrand. The forty miles which intervene +between Bloemfontein and Thabanchu are intersected midway by the Modder +River. At this point are the waterworks, erected recently with modern +machinery, to take the place of the insanitary wells on which the town +had been dependent. The force met with no resistance, and the small town +of Thabanchu was occupied. + +Colonel Pilcher, the leader of the Douglas raid, was inclined to explore +a little further, and with three squadrons of mounted men he rode on +to the eastward. Two commandos, supposed to be Grobler's and Olivier's, +were seen by them, moving on a line which suggested that they were going +to join Steyn, who was known to be rallying his forces at Kroonstad, +his new seat of government in the north of the Free State. Pilcher, with +great daring, pushed onwards until with his little band on their tired +horses he found himself in Ladybrand, thirty miles from his +nearest supports. Entering the town he seized the landdrost and the +field-cornet, but found that strong bodies of the enemy were moving upon +him and that it was impossible for him to hold the place. He retired, +therefore, holding grimly on to his prisoners, and got back with small +loss to the place from which he started. It was a dashing piece of +bluff, and, when taken with the Douglas exploit, leads one to hope that +Pilcher may have a chance of showing what he can do with larger means +at his disposal. Finding that the enemy was following him in force, he +pushed on the same night for Thabanchu. His horsemen must have covered +between fifty and sixty miles in the twenty-four hours. + +Apparently the effect of Pilcher's exploit was to halt the march of +those commandos which had been seen trekking to the north-west, and to +cause them to swing round upon Thabanchu. Broadwood, a young cavalry +commander who had won a name in Egypt, considered that his position was +unnecessarily exposed and fell back upon Bloemfontein. He halted on the +first night near the waterworks, halfway upon his journey. + +The Boers are great masters in the ambuscade. Never has any race shown +such aptitude for this form of warfare--a legacy from a long succession +of contests with cunning savages. But never also have they done anything +so clever and so audacious as De Wet's dispositions in this action. One +cannot go over the ground without being amazed at the ingenuity of their +attack, and also at the luck which favoured them, for the trap which +they had laid for others might easily have proved an absolutely fatal +one for themselves. + +The position beside the Modder at which the British camped had numerous +broken hills to the north and east of it. A force of Boers, supposed +to number about two thousand men, came down in the night, bringing with +them several heavy guns, and with the early morning opened a brisk fire +upon the camp. The surprise was complete. But the refinement of the Boer +tactics lay in the fact that they had a surprise within a surprise--and +it was the second which was the more deadly. + +The force which Broadwood had with him consisted of the 10th Hussars +and the composite regiment, Rimington's Scouts, Roberts's Horse, the +New Zealand and Burmah Mounted Infantry, with Q and U batteries of Horse +Artillery. With such a force, consisting entirely of mounted men, he +could not storm the hills upon which the Boer guns were placed, and his +twelve-pounders were unable to reach the heavier cannon of the enemy. +His best game was obviously to continue his march to Bloemfontein. He +sent on the considerable convoy of wagons and the guns, while he with +the cavalry covered the rear, upon which the long-range pieces of the +enemy kept up the usual well-directed but harmless fire. + +Broadwood's retreating column now found itself on a huge plain which +stretches all the way to Bloemfontein, broken only by two hills, both +of which were known to be in our possession. The plain was one which was +continually traversed from end to end by our troops and convoys, so that +once out upon its surface all danger seemed at an end. Broadwood had +additional reasons for feeling secure, for he knew that, in answer +to his own wise request, Colvile's Division had been sent out before +daybreak that morning from Bloemfontein to meet him. In a very few miles +their vanguard and his must come together. There were obviously no Boers +upon the plain, but if there were they would find themselves between two +fires. He gave no thought to his front therefore, but rode behind, where +the Boer guns were roaring, and whence the Boer riflemen might ride. + +But in spite of the obvious there WERE Boers upon the plain, so placed +that they must either bring off a remarkable surprise or be themselves +cut off to a man. Across the veld, some miles from the waterworks, there +runs a deep donga or watercourse--one of many, but the largest. It cuts +the rough road at right angles. Its depth and breadth are such that a +wagon would dip down the incline, and disappear for about two minutes +before it would become visible again at the crown of the other side. +In appearance it was a huge curving ditch with a stagnant stream at the +bottom. The sloping sides of the ditch were fringed with Boers, who had +ridden thither before dawn and were now waiting for the unsuspecting +column. There were not more than three hundred of them, and four times +their number were approaching; but no odds can represent the difference +between the concealed man with the magazine rifle and the man upon the +plain. + +There were two dangers, however, which the Boers ran, and, skilful as +their dispositions were, their luck was equally great, for the risks +were enormous. One was that a force coming the other way (Colvile's +was only a few miles off) would arrive, and that they would be ground +between the upper and the lower millstone. The other was that for once +the British scouts might give the alarm and that Broadwood's mounted men +would wheel swiftly to right and left and secure the ends of the long +donga. Should that happen, not a man of them could possibly escape. But +they took their chances like brave men, and fortune was their friend. +The wagons came on without any scouts. Behind them was U battery, then +Q, with Roberts's Horse abreast of them and the rest of the cavalry +behind. + +As the wagons, occupied for the most part only by unarmed sick soldiers +and black transport drivers, came down into the drift, the Boers quickly +but quietly took possession of them, and drove them on up the further +slope. Thus the troops behind saw their wagons dip down, reappear, +and continue on their course. The idea of an ambush could not suggest +itself. Only one thing could avert an absolute catastrophe, and that was +the appearance of a hero who would accept certain death in order to warn +his comrades. Such a man rode by the wagons--though, unhappily, in the +stress and rush of the moment there is no certainty as to his name or +rank. We only know that one was found brave enough to fire his revolver +in the face of certain death. The outburst of firing which answered his +shot was the sequel which saved the column. Not often is it given to a +man to die so choice a death as that of this nameless soldier. + +But the detachment was already so placed that nothing could save it from +heavy loss. The wagons had all passed but nine, and the leading battery +of artillery was at the very edge of the donga. Nothing is so helpless +as a limbered-up battery. In an instant the teams were shot down and the +gunners were made prisoners. A terrific fire burst at the same instant +upon Roberts's Horse, who were abreast of the guns. 'Files a bout! +gallop!' yelled Colonel Dawson, and by his exertions and those of Major +Pack-Beresford the corps was extricated and reformed some hundreds +of yards further off. But the loss of horses and men was heavy. Major +Pack-Beresford and other officers were shot down, and every unhorsed +man remained necessarily as a prisoner under the very muzzles of the +riflemen in the donga. + +As Roberts's Horse turned and galloped for dear life across the flat, +four out of the six guns [Footnote: Of the other two one overturned and +could not be righted, the other had the wheelers shot and could not be +extricated from the tumult. It was officially stated that the guns of +Q battery were halted a thousand yards off the donga, but my impression +was, from examining the ground, that it was not more than six hundred.] +of Q battery and one gun (the rearmost) of U battery swung round and +dashed frantically for a place of safety. At the same instant every Boer +along the line of the donga sprang up and emptied his magazine into +the mass of rushing, shouting soldiers, plunging horses, and screaming +Kaffirs. It was for a few moments a sauve-qui-peut. Serjeant-Major +Martin of U, with a single driver on a wheeler, got away the last gun +of his battery. The four guns which were extricated of Q, under Major +Phipps-Hornby, whirled across the plain, pulled up, unlimbered, and +opened a brisk fire of shrapnel from about a thousand yards upon the +donga. Had the battery gone on for double the distance, its action would +have been more effective, for it would have been under a less deadly +rifle fire, but in any case its sudden change from flight to discipline +and order steadied the whole force. Roberts's men sprang from their +horses, and with the Burmese and New Zealanders flung themselves down +in a skirmish line. The cavalry moved to the left to find some drift by +which the donga could be passed, and out of chaos there came in a few +minutes calm and a settled purpose. + +It was for Q battery to cover the retreat of the force, and most nobly +it did it. A fortnight later a pile of horses, visible many hundreds of +yards off across the plain, showed where the guns had stood. It was the +Colenso of the horse gunners. In a devilish sleet of lead they stood to +their work, loading and firing while a man was left. Some of the guns +were left with two men to work them, one was loaded and fired by a +single officer. When at last the order for retirement came, only ten +men, several of them wounded, were left upon their feet. With scratch +teams from the limbers, driven by single gunners, the twelve-pounders +staggered out of action, and the skirmish line of mounted infantry +sprang to their feet amid the hail of bullets to cheer them as they +passed. + +It was no slight task to extricate that sorely stricken force from the +close contact of an exultant enemy, and to lead it across that terrible +donga. Yet, thanks to the coolness of Broadwood and the steadiness of +his rearguard, the thing was done. A practicable passage had been found +two miles to the south by Captain Chester-Master of Rimington's. This +corps, with Roberts's, the New Zealanders, and the 3rd Mounted Infantry, +covered the withdrawal in turn. It was one of those actions in which the +horseman who is trained to fight upon foot did very much better than the +regular cavalry. In two hours' time the drift had been passed and the +survivors of the force found themselves in safety. + +The losses in this disastrous but not dishonourable engagement were +severe. About thirty officers and five hundred men were killed, wounded, +or missing. The prisoners came to more than three hundred. They lost +a hundred wagons, a considerable quantity of stores, and seven +twelve-pounder guns--five from U battery and two from Q. Of U battery +only Major Taylor and Sergeant-Major Martin seem to have escaped, the +rest being captured en bloc. Of Q battery nearly every man was killed or +wounded. Roberts's Horse, the New Zealanders, and the mounted infantry +were the other corps which suffered most heavily. Among many brave men +who died, none was a greater loss to the service than Major Booth of +the Northumberland Fusiliers, serving in the mounted infantry. With four +comrades he held a position to cover the retreat, and refused to leave +it. Such men are inspired by the traditions of the past, and pass on the +story of their own deaths to inspire fresh heroes in the future. + +Broadwood, the instant that he had disentangled himself, faced about, +and brought his guns into action. He was not strong enough, however, +nor were his men in a condition, to seriously attack the enemy. Martyr's +mounted infantry had come up, led by the Queenslanders, and at the cost +of some loss to themselves helped to extricate the disordered force. +Colvile's Division was behind Bushman's Kop, only a few miles off, and +there were hopes that it might push on and prevent the guns and wagons +from being removed. Colvile did make an advance, but slowly and in a +flanking direction instead of dashing swiftly forward to retrieve the +situation. It must be acknowledged, however, that the problem which +faced this General was one of great difficulty. It was almost certain +that before he could throw his men into the action the captured guns +would be beyond his reach, and it was possible that he might swell the +disaster. With all charity, however, one cannot but feel that his +return next morning, after a reinforcement during the night, without +any attempt to force the Boer position, was lacking in enterprise. +[Footnote: It may be urged in General Colvile's defence that his +division had already done a long march from Bloemfontein. A division, +however, which contains two such brigades as Macdonald's and +Smith-Dorrien's may safely be called upon for any exertions. The +gunner officers in Colvile's division heard their comrades' guns in +'section--fire' and knew it to be the sign of a desperate situation.] +The victory left the Boers in possession of the waterworks, and +Bloemfontein had to fall back upon her wells--a change which reacted +most disastrously upon the enteric which was already decimating the +troops. + +The effect of the Sanna's Post defeat was increased by the fact that +only four days later (on April 4th) a second even more deplorable +disaster befell our troops. This was the surrender of five companies +of infantry, two of them mounted, at Reddersberg. So many surrenders of +small bodies of troops had occurred during the course of the war that +the public, remembering how seldom the word 'surrender' had ever been +heard in our endless succession of European wars, had become very +restive upon the subject, and were sometimes inclined to question +whether this new and humiliating fact did not imply some deterioration +of our spirit. The fear was natural, and yet nothing could be more +unjust to this the most splendid army which has ever marched under the +red-crossed flag. The fact was new because the conditions were new, and +it was inherent in those conditions. In that country of huge distances +small bodies must be detached, for the amount of space covered by +the large bodies was not sufficient for all military purposes. In +reconnoitring, in distributing proclamations, in collecting arms, in +overawing outlying districts, weak columns must be used. Very often +these columns must contain infantry soldiers, as the demands upon the +cavalry were excessive. Such bodies, moving through a hilly country with +which they were unfamiliar, were always liable to be surrounded by a +mobile enemy. Once surrounded the length of their resistance was limited +by three things: their cartridges, their water, and their food. When +they had all three, as at Wepener or Mafeking, they could hold out +indefinitely. When one or other was wanting, as at Reddersberg or +Nicholson's Nek, their position was impossible. They could not break +away, for how can men on foot break away from horsemen? Hence those +repeated humiliations, which did little or nothing to impede the +course of the war, and which were really to be accepted as one of the +inevitable prices which we had to pay for the conditions under which +the war was fought. Numbers, discipline, and resources were with us. +Mobility, distances, nature of the country, insecurity of supplies, were +with them. We need not take it to heart therefore if it happened, with +all these forces acting against them, that our soldiers found themselves +sometimes in a position whence neither wisdom nor valour could rescue +them. To travel through that country, fashioned above all others for +defensive warfare, with trench and fort of superhuman size and strength, +barring every path, one marvels how it was that such incidents were not +more frequent and more serious. It is deplorable that the white flag +should ever have waved over a company of British troops, but the man who +is censorious upon the subject has never travelled in South Africa. + +In the disaster at Reddersberg three of the companies were of the +Irish Rifles, and two of the 2nd Northumberland Fusiliers--the same +unfortunate regiments which had already been cut up at Stormberg. They +had been detached from Gatacre's 3rd Division, the headquarters of which +was at Springfontein. On the abandonment of Thabanchu and the disaster +of Sanna's Post, it was obvious that we should draw in our detached +parties to the east; so the five companies were ordered to leave +Dewetsdorp, which they were garrisoning, and to get back to the railway +line. Either the order was issued too late, or they were too slow in +obeying it, for they were only halfway upon their journey, near the +town of Reddersberg, when the enemy came down upon them with five guns. +Without artillery they were powerless, but, having seized a kopje, they +took such shelter as they could find, and waited in the hope of succour. +Their assailants seem to have been detached from De Wet's force in the +north, and contained among them many of the victors of Sanna's Post. The +attack began at 11 A.M. of April 3rd, and all day the men lay among the +stones, subjected to the pelt of shell and bullet. The cover was good, +however, and the casualties were not heavy. The total losses were under +fifty killed and wounded. More serious than the enemy's fire was the +absence of water, save a very limited supply in a cart. A message was +passed through of the dire straits in which they found themselves, and +by the late afternoon the news had reached headquarters. Lord Roberts +instantly despatched the Camerons, just arrived from Egypt, to Bethany, +which is the nearest point upon the line, and telegraphed to Gatacre at +Springfontein to take measures to save his compromised detachment. The +telegram should have reached Gatacre early on the evening of the 3rd, +and he had collected a force of fifteen hundred men, entrained +it, journeyed forty miles up the line, detrained it, and reached +Reddersberg, which is ten or twelve miles from the line, by 10.30 next +morning. Already, however, it was too late, and the besieged force, +unable to face a second day without water under that burning sun, had +laid down their arms. No doubt the stress of thirst was dreadful, +and yet one cannot say that the defence rose to the highest point of +resolution. Knowing that help could not be far off, the garrison should +have held on while they could lift a rifle. If the ammunition was +running low, it was bad management which caused it to be shot away too +fast. Captain McWhinnie, who was in command, behaved with the utmost +personal gallantry. Not only the troops but General Gatacre also was +involved in the disaster. Blame may have attached to him for leaving +a detachment at Dewetsdorp, and not having a supporting body at +Reddersberg upon which it might fall back; but it must be remembered +that his total force was small and that he had to cover a long stretch +of the lines of communication. As to General Gatacre's energy and +gallantry it is a by-word in the army; but coming after the Stormberg +disaster this fresh mishap to his force made the continuance of his +command impossible. Much sympathy was felt with him in the army, where +he was universally liked and respected by officers and men. He returned +to England, and his division was taken over by General Chermside. + +In a single week, at a time when the back of the war had seemed to be +broken, we had lost nearly twelve hundred men with seven guns. The men +of the Free State--for the fighting was mainly done by commandos from +the Ladybrand, Winburg, Bethlehem, and Harrismith districts--deserve +great credit for this fine effort, and their leader De Wet confirmed the +reputation which he had already gained as a dashing and indefatigable +leader. His force was so weak that when Lord Roberts was able to really +direct his own against it, he brushed it away before him; but the manner +in which De Wet took advantage of Roberts's enforced immobility, and +dared to get behind so mighty an enemy, was a fine exhibition of courage +and enterprise. The public at home chafed at this sudden and unexpected +turn of affairs; but the General, constant to his own fixed purpose, +did not permit his strength to be wasted, and his cavalry to be again +disorganised, by flying excursions, but waited grimly until he should be +strong enough to strike straight at Pretoria. + +In this short period of depression there came one gleam of light from +the west. This was the capture of a commando of sixty Boers, or rather +of sixty foreigners fighting for the Boers, and the death of the gallant +Frenchman, De Villebois-Mareuil, who appears to have had the ambition of +playing Lafayette in South Africa to Kruger's Washington. From the time +that Kimberley had been reoccupied the British had been accumulating +their force there so as to make a strong movement which should coincide +with that of Roberts from Bloemfontein. Hunter's Division from Natal +was being moved round to Kimberley, and Methuen already commanded +a considerable body of troops, which included a number of the newly +arrived Imperial Yeomanry. With these Methuen pacified the surrounding +country, and extended his outposts to Barkly West on the one side, to +Boshof on the other, and to Warrenton upon the Vaal River in the centre. +On April 4th news reached Boshof that a Boer commando had been seen some +ten miles to the east of the town, and a force, consisting of Yeomanry, +Kimberley Light Horse, and half of Butcher's veteran 4th battery, was +sent to attack them. They were found to have taken up their position +upon a kopje which, contrary to all Boer custom, had no other kopjes +to support it. French generalship was certainly not so astute as Boer +cunning. The kopje was instantly surrounded, and the small force upon +the summit being without artillery in the face of our guns found itself +in exactly the same position which our men had been in twenty-four hours +before at Reddersberg. Again was shown the advantage which the mounted +rifleman has over the cavalry, for the Yeomanry and Light Horsemen left +their horses and ascended the hill with the bayonet. In three hours all +was over and the Boers had laid down their arms. Villebois was shot +with seven of his companions, and there were nearly sixty prisoners. +It speaks well for the skirmishing of the Yeomanry and the way in which +they were handled by Lord Chesham that though they worked their way up +the hill under fire they only lost four killed and a few wounded. The +affair was a small one, but it was complete, and it came at a time when +a success was very welcome. One bustling week had seen the expensive +victory of Karee, the disasters of Sanna's Post and Reddersberg, and the +successful skirmish of Boshof. Another chapter must be devoted to the +movement towards the south of the Boer forces and the dispositions which +Lord Roberts made to meet it. + + + +CHAPTER 23. THE CLEARING OF THE SOUTH-EAST. + +Lord Roberts never showed his self-command and fixed purpose more +clearly than during his six weeks' halt at Bloemfontein. De Wet, the +most enterprising and aggressive of the Boer commanders, was attacking +his eastern posts and menacing his line of communications. A fussy or +nervous general would have harassed his men and worn out his horses by +endeavouring to pursue a number of will-of-the-wisp commandos. Roberts +contented himself by building up his strength at the capital, and +by spreading nearly twenty thousand men along his line of rail from +Bloemfontein to Bethulie. When the time came he would strike, but until +then he rested. His army was not only being rehorsed and reshod, but +in some respects was being reorganised. One powerful weapon which was +forged during those weeks was the collection of the mounted infantry of +the central army into one division, which was placed under the command +of Ian Hamilton, with Hutton and Ridley as brigadiers. Hutton's +brigade contained the Canadians, New South Wales men, West Australians, +Queenslanders, New Zealanders, Victorians, South Australians, and +Tasmanians, with four battalions of Imperial Mounted Infantry, and +several light batteries. Ridley's brigade contained the South African +irregular regiments of cavalry, with some imperial troops. The strength +of the whole division came to over ten thousand rifles, and in its ranks +there rode the hardiest and best from every corner of the earth over +which the old flag is flying. + +A word as to the general distribution of the troops at this instant +while Roberts was gathering himself for his spring. Eleven divisions of +infantry were in the field. Of these the 1st (Methuen's) and half +the 10th (Hunter's) were at Kimberley, forming really the +hundred-mile-distant left wing of Lord Roberts's army. On that side also +was a considerable force of Yeomanry, as General Villebois discovered. +In the centre with Roberts was the 6th division (Kelly-Kenny's) at +Bloemfontein, the 7th (Tucker's) at Karee, twenty miles north, the 9th +(Colvile's) and the 11th (Pole-Carew's) near Bloemfontein. French's +cavalry division was also in the centre. As one descended the line +towards the Cape one came on the 3rd division (Chermside's, late +Gatacre's), which had now moved up to Reddersberg, and then, further +south, the 8th (Rundle's), near Rouxville. To the south and east was the +other half of Hunter's division (Hart's brigade), and Brabant's Colonial +division, half of which was shut up in Wepener and the rest at Aliwal. +These were the troops operating in the Free State, with the addition of +the division of mounted infantry in process of formation. + +There remained the three divisions in Natal, the 2nd (Clery's), the 4th +(Lyttelton's), and the 5th (Hildyard's, late Warren's), with the cavalry +brigades of Burn-Murdoch, Dundonald, and Brocklehurst. These, +with numerous militia and unbrigaded regiments along the lines of +communication, formed the British army in South Africa. At Mafeking some +900 irregulars stood at bay, with another force about as large under +Plumer a little to the north, endeavouring to relieve them. At Beira, a +Portuguese port through which we have treaty rights by which we may pass +troops, a curious mixed force of Australians, New Zealanders and others +was being disembarked and pushed through to Rhodesia, so as to cut off +any trek which the Boers might make in that direction. Carrington, a +fierce old soldier with a large experience of South African warfare, was +in command of this picturesque force, which moved amid tropical forests +over crocodile-haunted streams, while their comrades were shivering in +the cold southerly winds of a Cape winter. Neither our Government, our +people, nor the world understood at the beginning of this campaign how +grave was the task which we had undertaken, but, having once realised +it, it must be acknowledged that it was carried through in no +half-hearted way. So vast was the scene of operations that the +Canadian might almost find his native climate at one end of it and the +Queenslander at the other. + +To follow in close detail the movements of the Boers and the counter +movements of the British in the southeast portion of the Free State +during this period would tax the industry of the historian and the +patience of the reader. Let it be told with as much general truth and +as little geographical detail as possible. The narrative which is +interrupted by an eternal reference to the map is a narrative spoiled. + +The main force of the Freestaters had assembled in the north-eastern +corner of their State, and from this they made their sally southwards, +attacking or avoiding at their pleasure the eastern line of British +outposts. Their first engagement, that of Sanna's Post, was a great and +deserved success. Three days later they secured the five companies at +Reddersberg. Warned in time, the other small British bodies closed in +upon their supports, and the railway line, that nourishing artery which +was necessary for the very existence of the army, was held too strongly +for attack. The Bethulie Bridge was a particularly important point; but +though the Boers approached it, and even went the length of announcing +officially that they had destroyed it, it was not actually attacked. +At Wepener, however, on the Basutoland border, they found an isolated +force, and proceeded at once, according to their custom, to hem it in +and to bombard it, until one of their three great allies, want of food, +want of water, or want of cartridges, should compel a surrender. + +On this occasion, however, the Boers had undertaken a task which was +beyond their strength. The troops at Wepener were one thousand seven +hundred in number, and formidable in quality. The place had been +occupied by part of Brabant's Colonial division, consisting of hardy +irregulars, men of the stuff of the defenders of Mafeking. Such men are +too shrewd to be herded into an untenable position and too valiant to +surrender a tenable one. The force was commanded by a dashing soldier, +Colonel Dalgety, of the Cape Mounted Rifles, as tough a fighter as his +famous namesake. There were with him nearly a thousand men of Brabant's +Horse, four hundred of the Cape Mounted Rifles, four hundred Kaffrarian +Horse, with some scouts, and one hundred regulars, including twenty +invaluable Sappers. They were strong in guns--two seven-pounders, two +naval twelve-pounders, two fifteen-pounders and several machine guns. +The position which they had taken up, Jammersberg, three miles north of +Wepener, was a very strong one, and it would have taken a larger force +than De Wet had at his disposal to turn them out of it. The defence had +been arranged by Major Cedric Maxwell, of the Sappers; and though the +huge perimeter, nearly eight miles, made its defence by so small a force +a most difficult matter, the result proved how good his dispositions +were. + +At the same time, the Boers came on with every confidence of victory, +for they had a superiority in guns and an immense superiority in men. +But after a day or two of fierce struggle their attack dwindled down +into a mere blockade. On April 9th they attacked furiously, both by day +and by night, and on the 10th the pressure was equally severe. In these +two days occurred the vast majority of the casualties. But the defenders +took cover in a way to which British regulars have not yet attained, and +they outshot their opponents both with their rifles and their cannon. +Captain Lukin's management of the artillery was particularly skilful. +The weather was vile and the hastily dug trenches turned into ditches +half full of water, but neither discomfort nor danger shook the courage +of the gallant colonials. Assault after assault was repulsed, and +the scourging of the cannon was met with stolid endurance. The Boers +excelled all their previous feats in the handling of artillery by +dragging two guns up to the summit of the lofty Jammersberg, whence they +fired down upon the camp. Nearly all the horses were killed and three +hundred of the troopers were hit, a number which is double that of the +official return, for the simple reason that the spirit of the force +was so high that only those who were very severely wounded reported +themselves as wounded at all. None but the serious cases ever reached +the hands of Dr. Faskally, who did admirable work with very slender +resources. How many the enemy lost can never be certainly known, but as +they pushed home several attacks it is impossible to imagine that their +losses were less than those of the victorious defenders. At the end of +seventeen days of mud and blood the brave irregulars saw an empty laager +and abandoned trenches. Their own resistance and the advance of Brabant +to their rescue had caused a hasty retreat of the enemy. Wepener, +Mafeking, Kimberley, the taking of the first guns at Ladysmith, +the deeds of the Imperial Light Horse--it cannot be denied that our +irregular South African forces have a brilliant record for the war. They +are associated with many successes and with few disasters. Their fine +record cannot, I think, be fairly ascribed to any greater hardihood +which one portion of our race has when compared with another, for a +South African must admit that in the best colonial corps at least +half the men were Britons of Britain. In the Imperial Light Horse the +proportion was very much higher. But what may fairly be argued is that +their exploits have proved, what the American war proved long ago, that +the German conception of discipline is an obsolete fetish, and that the +spirit of free men, whose individualism has been encouraged rather +than crushed, is equal to any feat of arms. The clerks and miners and +engineers who went up Elandslaagte Hill without bayonets, shoulder to +shoulder with the Gordons, and who, according to Sir George White, saved +Ladysmith on January 6th, have shown for ever that with men of our race +it is the spirit within, and not the drill or the discipline, that makes +a formidable soldier. An intelligent appreciation of the fact might in +the course of the next few years save us as much money as would go far +to pay for the war. + +It may well be asked how for so long a period as seventeen days the +British could tolerate a force to the rear of them when with their great +superiority of numbers they could have readily sent an army to drive +it away. The answer must be that Lord Roberts had despatched his trusty +lieutenant, Kitchener, to Aliwal, whence he had been in heliographic +communication with Wepener, that he was sure that the place could hold +out, and that he was using it, as he did Kimberley, to hold the enemy +while he was making his plans for their destruction. This was the bait +to tempt them to their ruin. Had the trap not been a little slow in +closing, the war in the Free State might have ended then and there. +From the 9th to the 25th the Boers were held in front of Wepener. Let us +trace the movements of the other British detachments during that time. + +Brabant's force, with Hart's brigade, which had been diverted on its way +to Kimberley, where it was to form part of Hunter's division, was moving +on the south towards Wepener, advancing through Rouxville, but going +slowly for fear of scaring the Boers away before they were sufficiently +compromised. Chermside's 3rd division approached from the north-west, +moving out from the railway at Bethany, and passing through Reddersberg +towards Dewetsdorp, from which it would directly threaten the Boer +line of retreat. The movement was made with reassuring slowness and +gentleness, as when the curved hand approaches the unconscious fly. And +then suddenly, on April 21st, Lord Roberts let everything go. Had the +action of the agents been as swift and as energetic as the mind of the +planner, De Wet could not have escaped us. + +What held Lord Roberts's hand for some few days after he was ready to +strike was the abominable weather. Rain was falling in sheets, and +those who know South African roads, South African mud, and South African +drifts will understand how impossible swift military movements are under +those circumstances. But with the first clearing of the clouds the +hills to the south and east of Bloemfontein were dotted with our scouts. +Rundle with his 8th division was brought swiftly up from the south, +united with Chermside to the east of Reddersberg, and the whole force, +numbering 13,000 rifles with thirty guns, advanced upon Dewetsdorp, +Rundle, as senior officer, being in command. As they marched the blue +hills of Wepener lined the sky some twenty miles to the south, eloquent +to every man of the aim and object of their march. + +On April 20th, Rundle as he advanced found a force with artillery across +his path to Dewetsdorp. It is always difficult to calculate the number +of hidden men and lurking guns which go to make up a Boer army, but with +some knowledge of their total at Wepener it was certain that the force +opposed to him must be very inferior to his own. At Constantia Farm, +where he found them in position, it is difficult to imagine that there +were more than three thousand men. Their left flank was their weak +point, as a movement on that side would cut them off from Wepener +and drive them up towards our main force in the north. One would have +thought that a containing force of three thousand men, and a flanking +movement from eight thousand, would have turned them out, as it has +turned them out so often before and since. Yet a long-range action began +on Friday, April 20th, and lasted the whole of the 21st, the 22nd, and +the 23rd, in which we sustained few losses, but made no impression upon +the enemy. Thirty of the 1st Worcesters wandered at night into the wrong +line, and were made prisoners, but with this exception the four days +of noisy fighting does not appear to have cost either side fifty +casualties. It is probable that the deliberation with which the +operations were conducted was due to Rundle's instructions to wait until +the other forces were in position. His subsequent movements showed that +he was not a General who feared to strike. + +On Sunday night (April 22nd) Pole-Carew sallied out from Bloemfontein on +a line which would take him round the right flank of the Boers who were +facing Rundle. The Boers had, however, occupied a strong position at +Leeuw Kop, which barred his path, so that the Dewetsdorp Boers were +covering the Wepener Boers, and being in turn covered by the Boers of +Leeuw Kop. Before anything could be done, they must be swept out of the +way. Pole-Carew is one of those finds which help to compensate us for +the war. Handsome, dashing, debonnaire, he approaches a field of battle +as a light-hearted schoolboy approaches a football field. On this +occasion he acted with energy and discretion. His cavalry threatened the +flanks of the enemy, and Stephenson's brigade carried the position in +front at a small cost. On the same evening General French arrived and +took over the force, which consisted now of Stephenson's and the Guards +brigades (making up the 11th division), with two brigades of cavalry and +one corps of mounted infantry. The next day, the 23rd, the advance was +resumed, the cavalry bearing the brunt of the fighting. That gallant +corps, Roberts's Horse, whose behaviour at Sanna's Post had been +admirable, again distinguished itself, losing among others its Colonel, +Brazier Creagh. On the 24th again it was to the horsemen that the honour +and the casualties fell. The 9th Lancers, the regular cavalry regiment +which bears away the honours of the war, lost several men and officers, +and the 8th Hussars also suffered, but the Boers were driven from their +position, and lost more heavily in this skirmish than in some of the +larger battles of the campaign. The 'pom-poms,' which had been supplied +to us by the belated energy of the Ordnance Department, were used with +some effect in this engagement, and the Boers learned for the first +time how unnerving are those noisy but not particularly deadly fireworks +which they had so often crackled round the ears of our gunners. + +On the Wednesday morning Rundle, with the addition of Pole-Carew's +division, was strong enough for any attack, while French was in a +position upon the flank. Every requisite for a great victory was there +except the presence of an enemy. The Wepener siege had been raised and +the force in front of Rundle had disappeared as only Boer armies can +disappear. The combined movement was an admirable piece of work on +the part of the enemy. Finding no force in front of them, the combined +troops of French, Rundle, and Chermside occupied Dewetsdorp, where the +latter remained, while the others pushed on to Thabanchu, the storm +centre from which all our troubles had begun nearly a month before. All +the way they knew that De Wet's retreating army was just in front +of them, and they knew also that a force had been sent out from +Bloemfontein to Thabanchu to head off the Boers. Lord Roberts might +naturally suppose, when he had formed two cordons through which De Wet +must pass, that one or other must hold him. But with extraordinary +skill and mobility De Wet, aided by the fact that every inhabitant was +a member of his intelligence department, slipped through the double net +which had been laid for him. The first net was not in its place in time, +and the second was too small to hold him. + +While Rundle and French had advanced on Dewetsdorp as described, the +other force which was intended to head off De Wet had gone direct to +Thabanchu. The advance began by a movement of Ian Hamilton on April 22nd +with eight hundred mounted infantry upon the waterworks. The enemy, who +held the hills beyond, allowed Hamilton's force to come right down to +the Modder before they opened fire from three guns. The mounted infantry +fell back, and encamped for the night out of range. [Footnote: This was +a remarkable exhibition of the harmlessness of shell-fire against troops +in open formation. I myself saw at least forty shells, all of which +burst, fall among the ranks of the mounted infantry, who retired at a +contemptuous walk. There were no casualties.] Before morning they +were reinforced by Smith-Dorrien's brigade (Gordons, Canadians, and +Shropshires--the Cornwalls had been left behind) and some more mounted +Infantry. With daylight a fine advance was begun, the brigade moving up +in very extended order and the mounted men turning the right flank of +the defence. By evening we had regained the waterworks, a most important +point for Bloemfontein, and we held all the line of hills which command +it. This strong position would not have been gained so easily if it had +not been for Pole-Carew's and French's actions two days before, on their +way to join Rundle, which enabled them to turn it from the south. + +Ian Hamilton, who had already done good service in the war, having +commanded the infantry at Elandslaagte, and been one of the most +prominent leaders in the defence of Ladysmith, takes from this time +onwards a more important and a more independent position. A thin, +aquiline man, of soft voice and gentle manners, he had already proved +more than once during his adventurous career that he not only possessed +in a high degree the courage of the soldier, but also the equanimity and +decision of the born leader. A languid elegance in his bearing covered +a shrewd brain and a soul of fire. A distorted and half-paralysed hand +reminded the observer that Hamilton, as a young lieutenant, had known +at Majuba what it was to face the Boer rifles. Now, in his forty-seventh +year, he had returned, matured and formidable, to reverse the results +of that first deplorable campaign. This was the man to whom Lord Roberts +had entrusted the command of that powerful flanking column which was +eventually to form the right wing of his main advance. Being reinforced +upon the morning after the capture of the Waterworks by the Highland +Brigade, the Cornwalls, and two heavy naval guns, his whole force +amounted to not less than seven thousand men. From these he detached a +garrison for the Waterworks, and with the rest he continued his march +over the hilly country which lies between them and Thabanchu. + +One position, Israel's Poort, a nek between two hills, was held against +them on April 25th, but was gained without much trouble, the Canadians +losing one killed and two wounded. Colonel Otter, their gallant leader, +was one of the latter, while Marshall's Horse, a colonial corps raised +in Grahamstown, had no fewer than seven of their officers and several +men killed or wounded. Next morning the town of Thabanchu was seized, +and Hamilton found himself upon the direct line of the Boer retreat. +He seized the pass which commands the road, and all next day he waited +eagerly, and the hearts of his men beat high when at last they saw a +long trail of dust winding up to them from the south. At last the wily +De Wet had been headed off! Deep and earnest were the curses when out of +the dust there emerged a khaki column of horsemen, and it was realised +that this was French's pursuing force, closely followed by Rundle's +infantry from Dewetsdorp. The Boers had slipped round and were already +to the north of us. + +It is impossible to withhold our admiration for the way in which the +Boer force was manoeuvred throughout this portion of the campaign. The +mixture of circumspection and audacity, the way in which French and +Rundle were hindered until the Wepener force had disengaged itself, the +manner in which these covering forces were then withdrawn, and finally +the clever way in which they all slipped past Hamilton, make a brilliant +bit of strategy. Louis Botha, the generalissimo, held all the strings in +his hand, and the way in which he pulled them showed that his countrymen +had chosen the right man for that high office, and that his was a master +spirit even among those fine natural warriors who led the separate +commandos. + +Having got to the north of the British forces Botha made no effort to +get away, and refused to be hustled by a reconnaissance developing into +an attack, which French made upon April 27th. In a skirmish the night +before Kitchener's Horse had lost fourteen men, and the action of the +27th cost us about as many casualties. It served to show that the +Boer force was a compact body some six or seven thousand strong, which +withdrew in a leisurely fashion, and took up a defensive position at +Houtnek, some miles further on. French remained at Thabanchu, from which +he afterwards joined Lord Roberts' advance, while Hamilton now assumed +complete command of the flanking column, with which he proceeded to +march north upon Winburg. + +The Houtnek position is dominated upon the left of the advancing British +force by Thoba Mountain, and it was this point which was the centre of +Hamilton's attack. It was most gallantly seized by Kitchener's Horse, +who were quickly supported by Smith-Dorrien's men. The mountain became +the scene of a brisk action, and night fell before the crest was +cleared. At dawn upon May 1st the fighting was resumed, and the position +was carried by a determined advance of the Shropshires, the Canadians, +and the Gordons: the Boers escaping down the reverse slope of the hill +came under a heavy fire of our infantry, and fifty of them were wounded +or taken. It was in this action, during the fighting on the hill, that +Captain Towse, of the Gordons, though shot through the eyes and totally +blind, encouraged his men to charge through a group of the enemy who had +gathered round them. After this victory Hamilton's men, who had fought +for seven days out of ten, halted for a rest at Jacobsrust, where +they were joined by Broadwood's cavalry and Bruce Hamilton's infantry +brigade. Ian Hamilton's column now contained two infantry brigades +(Smith-Dorrien's and Bruce Hamilton's), Ridley's Mounted Infantry, +Broadwood's Cavalry Brigade, five batteries of artillery, two heavy +guns, altogether 13,000 men. With this force in constant touch with +Botha's rearguard, Ian Hamilton pushed on once more on May 4th. On May +5th he fought a brisk cavalry skirmish, in which Kitchener's Horse and +the 12th Lancers distinguished themselves, and on the same day he took +possession of Winburg, thus covering the right of Lord Roberts's great +advance. + +The distribution of the troops on the eastern side of the Free State +was, at the time of this the final advance of the main army, as +follows--Ian Hamilton with his mounted infantry, Smith-Dorrien's +brigade, Macdonald's brigade, Bruce Hamilton's brigade, and Broadwood's +cavalry were at Winburg. Rundle was at Thabanchu, and Brabant's colonial +division was moving up to the same point. Chermside was at Dewetsdorp, +and had detached a force under Lord Castletown to garrison Wepener. +Hart occupied Smithfield, whence he and his brigade were shortly to be +transferred to the Kimberley force. Altogether there could not have been +fewer than thirty thousand men engaged in clearing and holding down +this part of the country. French's cavalry and Pole-Carew's division had +returned to take part in the central advance. + +Before entering upon a description of that great and decisive movement, +one small action calls for comment. This was the cutting off of twenty +men of Lumsden's Horse in a reconnaissance at Karee. The small post +under Lieutenant Crane found themselves by some misunderstanding +isolated in the midst of the enemy. Refusing to hoist the flag of shame, +they fought their way out, losing half their number, while of the other +half it is said that there was not one who could not show bullet +marks upon his clothes or person. The men of this corps, volunteer +Anglo-Indians, had abandoned the ease and even luxury of Eastern life +for the hard fare and rough fighting of this most trying campaign. In +coming they had set the whole empire an object-lesson in spirit, and now +on their first field they set the army an example of military virtue. +The proud traditions of Outram's Volunteers have been upheld by the men +of Lumsden's Horse. Another minor action which cannot be ignored is +the defence of a convoy on April 29th by the Derbyshire Yeomanry (Major +Dugdale) and a company of the Scots Guards. The wagons were on their +way to Rundle when they were attacked at a point about ten miles west of +Thabanchu. The small guard beat off their assailants in the most +gallant fashion, and held their own until relieved by Brabazon upon the +following morning. + +This phase of the war was marked by a certain change in the temper of +the British. Nothing could have been milder than the original intentions +and proclamations of Lord Roberts, and he was most ably seconded in his +attempts at conciliation by General Pretyman, who had been made civil +administrator of the State. There was evidence, however, that this +kindness had been construed as weakness by some of the burghers, +and during the Boer incursion to Wepener many who had surrendered a +worthless firearm reappeared with the Mauser which had been concealed +in some crafty hiding-place. Troops were fired at from farmhouses which +flew the white flag, and the good housewife remained behind to charge +the 'rooinek' extortionate prices for milk and fodder while her husband +shot at him from the hills. It was felt that the burghers might have +peace or might have war, but could not have both simultaneously. Some +examples were made therefore of offending farmhouses, and stock was +confiscated where there was evidence of double dealing upon the part +of the owner. In a country where property is a more serious thing than +life, these measures, together with more stringent rules about the +possession of horses and arms, did much to stamp out the chances of an +insurrection in our rear. The worst sort of peace is an enforced peace, +but if that can be established time and justice may do the rest. + +The operations which have been here described may be finally summed up +in one short paragraph. A Boer army came south of the British line and +besieged a British garrison. Three British forces, those of French, +Rundle, and Ian Hamilton, were despatched to cut it off. It successfully +threaded its way among them and escaped. It was followed to the +northward as far as the town of Winburg, which remained in the British +possession. Lord Roberts had failed in his plan of cutting off De Wet's +army, but, at the expense of many marches and skirmishes, the south-east +of the State was cleared of the enemy. + + + +CHAPTER 24. THE SIEGE OF MAFEKING. + +This small place, which sprang in the course of a few weeks from +obscurity to fame, is situated upon the long line of railway which +connects Kimberley in the south with Rhodesia in the north. In character +it resembles one of those western American townlets which possess small +present assets but immense aspirations. In its litter of corrugated-iron +roofs, and in the church and the racecourse, which are the first-fruits +everywhere of Anglo-Celtic civilisation, one sees the seeds of the great +city of the future. It is the obvious depot for the western Transvaal +upon one side, and the starting-point for all attempts upon the Kalahari +Desert upon the other. The Transvaal border runs within a few miles. + +It is not clear why the imperial authorities should desire to hold this +place, since it has no natural advantages to help the defence, but lies +exposed in a widespread plain. A glance at the map must show that the +railway line would surely be cut both to the north and south of the +town, and the garrison isolated at a point some two hundred and fifty +miles from any reinforcements. Considering that the Boers could throw +any strength of men or guns against the place, it seemed certain that if +they seriously desired to take possession of it they could do so. Under +ordinary circumstances any force shut up there was doomed to capture. +But what may have seemed short-sighted policy became the highest wisdom, +owing to the extraordinary tenacity and resource of Baden-Powell, the +officer in command. Through his exertions the town acted as a bait to +the Boers, and occupied a considerable force in a useless siege at +a time when their presence at other seats of war might have proved +disastrous to the British cause. + +Colonel Baden-Powell is a soldier of a type which is exceedingly popular +with the British public. A skilled hunter and an expert at many games, +there was always something of the sportsman in his keen appreciation of +war. In the Matabele campaign he had out-scouted the savage scouts and +found his pleasure in tracking them among their native mountains, often +alone and at night, trusting to his skill in springing from rock to rock +in his rubber-soled shoes to save him from their pursuit. There was a +brain quality in his bravery which is rare among our officers. Full +of veld craft and resource, it was as difficult to outwit as it was to +outfight him. But there was another curious side to his complex nature. +The French have said of one of their heroes, 'Il avait cette graine de +folie dans sa bravoure que les Francais aiment,' and the words might +have been written of Powell. An impish humour broke out in him, and the +mischievous schoolboy alternated with the warrior and the administrator. +He met the Boer commandos with chaff and jokes which were as +disconcerting as his wire entanglements and his rifle-pits. The amazing +variety of his personal accomplishments was one of his most +striking characteristics. From drawing caricatures with both hands +simultaneously, or skirt dancing to leading a forlorn hope, nothing +came amiss to him; and he had that magnetic quality by which the leader +imparts something of his virtues to his men. Such was the man who held +Mafeking for the Queen. + +In a very early stage, before the formal declaration of war, the enemy +had massed several commandos upon the western border, the men being +drawn from Zeerust, Rustenburg, and Lichtenburg. Baden-Powell, with +the aid of an excellent group of special officers, who included Colonel +Gould Adams, Lord Edward Cecil, the soldier son of England's Premier, +and Colonel Hore, had done all that was possible to put the place into a +state of defence. In this he had immense assistance from Benjamin Weil, +a well known South African contractor, who had shown great energy in +provisioning the town. On the other hand, the South African Government +displayed the same stupidity or treason which had been exhibited in the +case of Kimberley, and had met all demands for guns and reinforcements +with foolish doubts as to the need of such precautions. In the endeavour +to supply these pressing wants the first small disaster of the campaign +was encountered. On October 12th, the day after the declaration of war, +an armoured train conveying two 7-pounders for the Mafeking defences was +derailed and captured by a Boer raiding party at Kraaipan, a place forty +miles south of their destination. The enemy shelled the shattered train +until after five hours Captain Nesbitt, who was in command, and his +men, some twenty in number, surrendered. It was a small affair, but +it derived importance from being the first blood shed and the first +tactical success of the war. + +The garrison of the town, whose fame will certainly live in the history +of South Africa, contained no regular soldiers at all with the exception +of the small group of excellent officers. They consisted of irregular +troops, three hundred and forty of the Protectorate Regiment, one +hundred and seventy Police, and two hundred volunteers, made up of that +singular mixture of adventurers, younger sons, broken gentlemen, and +irresponsible sportsmen who have always been the voortrekkers of +the British Empire. These men were of the same stamp as those other +admirable bodies of natural fighters who did so well in Rhodesia, in +Natal, and in the Cape. With them there was associated in the defence +the Town Guard, who included the able-bodied shopkeepers, businessmen, +and residents, the whole amounting to about nine hundred men. Their +artillery was feeble in the extreme, two 7-pounder toy guns and six +machine guns, but the spirit of the men and the resource of their +leaders made up for every disadvantage. Colonel Vyvyan and Major Panzera +planned the defences, and the little trading town soon began to take on +the appearance of a fortress. + +On October 13th the Boers appeared before Mafeking. On the same day +Colonel Baden-Powell sent two truckloads of dynamite out of the +place. They were fired into by the invaders, with the result that they +exploded. On October 14th the pickets around the town were driven in by +the Boers. On this the armoured train and a squadron of the Protectorate +Regiment went out to support the pickets and drove the Boers before +them. A body of the latter doubled back and interposed between the +British and Mafeking, but two fresh troops with a 7-pounder throwing +shrapnel drove them off. In this spirited little action the garrison +lost two killed and fourteen wounded, but they inflicted considerable +damage on the enemy. To Captain Williams, Captain FitzClarence, and Lord +Charles Bentinck great credit is due for the way in which they handled +their men; but the whole affair was ill advised, for if a disaster had +occurred Mafeking must have fallen, being left without a garrison. No +possible results which could come from such a sortie could justify the +risk which was run. + +On October 16th the siege began in earnest. On that date the Boers +brought up two 12-pounder guns, and the first of that interminable +flight of shells fell into the town. The enemy got possession of the +water supply, but the garrison had already dug wells. Before October +20th five thousand Boers, under the formidable Cronje, had gathered +round the town. 'Surrender to avoid bloodshed' was his message. 'When +is the bloodshed going to begin?' asked Powell. When the Boers had been +shelling the town for some weeks the lighthearted Colonel sent out to +say that if they went on any longer he should be compelled to regard +it as equivalent to a declaration of war. It is to be hoped that Cronje +also possessed some sense of humour, or else he must have been as sorely +puzzled by his eccentric opponent as the Spanish generals were by the +vagaries of Lord Peterborough. + +Among the many difficulties which had to be met by the defenders of the +town the most serious was the fact that the position had a circumference +of five or six miles to be held by about one thousand men against a +force who at their own time and their own place could at any moment +attempt to gain a footing. An ingenious system of small forts was +devised to meet the situation. Each of these held from ten to forty +riflemen, and was furnished with bomb-proofs and covered ways. The +central bomb-proof was connected by telephone with all the outlying +ones, so as to save the use of orderlies. A system of bells was arranged +by which each quarter of the town was warned when a shell was coming in +time to enable the inhabitants to scuttle off to shelter. Every detail +showed the ingenuity of the controlling mind. The armoured train, +painted green and tied round with scrub, stood unperceived among the +clumps of bushes which surrounded the town. + +On October 24th a savage bombardment commenced, which lasted with +intermissions for seven months. The Boers had brought an enormous gun +across from Pretoria, throwing a 96-pound shell, and this, with many +smaller pieces, played upon the town. The result was as futile as our +own artillery fire has so often been when directed against the Boers. + +As the Mafeking guns were too weak to answer the enemy's fire, the only +possible reply lay in a sortie, and upon this Colonel Powell decided. +It was carried out with great gallantry on the evening of October 27th, +when about a hundred men under Captain FitzClarence moved out against +the Boer trenches with instructions to use the bayonet only. The +position was carried with a rush, and many of the Boers bayoneted before +they could disengage themselves from the tarpaulins which covered them. +The trenches behind fired wildly in the darkness, and it is probable +that as many of their own men as of ours were hit by their rifle fire. +The total loss in this gallant affair was six killed, eleven wounded, +and two prisoners. The loss of the enemy, though shrouded as usual in +darkness, was certainly very much higher. + +On October 31st the Boers ventured upon an attack on Cannon Kopje, which +is a small fort and eminence to the south of the town. It was +defended by Colonel Walford, of the British South African Police, with +fifty-seven of his men and three small guns. The attack was repelled +with heavy loss to the Boers. The British casualties were six killed and +five wounded. + +Their experience in this attack seems to have determined the Boers to +make no further expensive attempts to rush the town, and for some weeks +the siege degenerated into a blockade. Cronje had been recalled for more +important work, and Commandant Snyman had taken over the uncompleted +task. From time to time the great gun tossed its huge shells into the +town, but boardwood walls and corrugated-iron roofs minimise the dangers +of a bombardment. On November 3rd the garrison rushed the Brickfields, +which had been held by the enemy's sharpshooters, and on the 7th another +small sally kept the game going. On the 18th Powell sent a message to +Snyman that he could not take the town by sitting and looking at it. +At the same time he despatched a message to the Boer forces generally, +advising them to return to their homes and their families. Some of the +commandos had gone south to assist Cronje in his stand against Methuen, +and the siege languished more and more, until it was woken up by a +desperate sortie on December 26th, which caused the greatest loss which +the garrison had sustained. Once more the lesson was to be enforced that +with modern weapons and equality of forces it is always long odds on the +defence. + +On this date a vigorous attack was made upon one of the Boer forts +on the north. There seems to be little doubt that the enemy had +some inkling of our intention, as the fort was found to have been so +strengthened as to be impregnable without scaling ladders. The attacking +force consisted of two squadrons of the Protectorate Regiment and one of +the Bechuanaland Rifles, backed up by three guns. So desperate was the +onslaught that of the actual attacking party--a forlorn hope, if ever +there was one--fifty-three out of eighty were killed and wounded, +twenty-five of the former and twenty-eight of the latter. Several of +that gallant band of officers who had been the soul of the defence were +among the injured. Captain FitzClarence was wounded, Vernon, Sandford, +and Paton were killed, all at the very muzzles of the enemy's guns. It +must have been one of the bitterest moments of Baden-Powell's life when +he shut his field-glass and said, 'Let the ambulance go out!' + +Even this heavy blow did not damp the spirits nor diminish the energies +of the defence, though it must have warned Baden-Powell that he could +not afford to drain his small force by any more expensive attempts at +the offensive, and that from then onwards he must content himself by +holding grimly on until Plumer from the north or Methuen from the south +should at last be able to stretch out to him a helping hand. Vigilant +and indomitable, throwing away no possible point in the game which +he was playing, the new year found him and his hardy garrison sternly +determined to keep the flag flying. + +January and February offer in their records that monotony of excitement +which is the fate of every besieged town. On one day the shelling was +a little more, on another a little less. Sometimes they escaped +scatheless, sometimes the garrison found itself the poorer by the loss +of Captain Girdwood or Trooper Webb or some other gallant soldier. +Occasionally they had their little triumph when a too curious Dutchman, +peering for an instant from his cover to see the effect of his shot, +was carried back in the ambulance to the laager. On Sunday a truce was +usually observed, and the snipers who had exchanged rifle-shots all the +week met occasionally on that day with good-humoured chaff. Snyman, +the Boer General, showed none of that chivalry at Mafeking which +distinguished the gallant old Joubert at Ladysmith. Not only was +there no neutral camp for women or sick, but it is beyond all doubt or +question that the Boer guns were deliberately turned upon the +women's quarters inside Mafeking in order to bring pressure upon the +inhabitants. Many women and children were sacrificed to this brutal +policy, which must in fairness be set to the account of the savage +leader, and not of the rough but kindly folk with whom we were fighting. +In every race there are individual ruffians, and it would be a political +mistake to allow our action to be influenced or our feelings permanently +embittered by their crimes. It is from the man himself, and not from his +country, that an account should be exacted. + +The garrison, in the face of increasing losses and decreasing food, +lost none of the high spirits which it reflected from its commander. The +programme of a single day of jubilee--Heaven only knows what they had to +hold jubilee over--shows a cricket match in the morning, sports in the +afternoon, a concert in the evening, and a dance, given by the bachelor +officers, to wind up. Baden-Powell himself seems to have descended from +the eyrie from which, like a captain on the bridge, he rang bells and +telephoned orders, to bring the house down with a comic song and a +humorous recitation. The ball went admirably, save that there was an +interval to repel an attack which disarranged the programme. Sports +were zealously cultivated, and the grimy inhabitants of casemates +and trenches were pitted against each other at cricket or football. +[Footnote: Sunday cricket so shocked Snyman that he threatened to fire +upon it if it were continued.] The monotony was broken by the occasional +visits of a postman, who appeared or vanished from the vast barren +lands to the west of the town, which could not all be guarded by the +besiegers. Sometimes a few words from home came to cheer the hearts of +the exiles, and could be returned by the same uncertain and expensive +means. The documents which found their way up were not always of an +essential or even of a welcome character. At least one man received an +unpaid bill from an angry tailor. + +In one particular Mafeking had, with much smaller resources, rivalled +Kimberley. An ordnance factory had been started, formed in the railway +workshops, and conducted by Connely and Cloughlan, of the Locomotive +Department. Daniels, of the police, supplemented their efforts by making +both powder and fuses. The factory turned out shells, and eventually +constructed a 5.5-inch smooth-bore gun, which threw a round shell with +great accuracy to a considerable range. April found the garrison, in +spite of all losses, as efficient and as resolute as it had been in +October. So close were the advanced trenches upon either side that both +parties had recourse to the old-fashioned hand grenades, thrown by the +Boers, and cast on a fishing-line by ingenious Sergeant Page, of the +Protectorate Regiment. Sometimes the besiegers and the number of guns +diminished, forces being detached to prevent the advance of Plumer's +relieving column from the north; but as those who remained held their +forts, which it was beyond the power of the British to storm, the +garrison was now much the better for the alleviation. Putting Mafeking +for Ladysmith and Plumer for Buller, the situation was not unlike that +which had existed in Natal. + +At this point some account might be given of the doings of that +northern force whose situation was so remote that even the ubiquitous +correspondent hardly appears to have reached it. No doubt the book will +eventually make up for the neglect of the journal, but some short facts +may be given here of the Rhodesian column. Their action did not affect +the course of the war, but they clung like bulldogs to a most difficult +task, and eventually, when strengthened by the relieving column, made +their way to Mafeking. + +The force was originally raised for the purpose of defending Rhodesia, +and it consisted of fine material pioneers, farmers, and miners from the +great new land which had been added through the energy of Mr. Rhodes to +the British Empire. Many of the men were veterans of the native wars, +and all were imbued with a hardy and adventurous spirit. On the other +hand, the men of the northern and western Transvaal, whom they were +called upon to face the burghers of Watersberg and Zoutpansberg, were +tough frontiersmen living in a land where a dinner was shot, not +bought. Shaggy, hairy, half-savage men, handling a rifle as a mediaeval +Englishman handled a bow, and skilled in every wile of veld craft, they +were as formidable opponents as the world could show. + +On the war breaking out the first thought of the leaders in Rhodesia was +to save as much of the line which was their connection through Mafeking +with the south as was possible. For this purpose an armoured train was +despatched only three days after the expiration of the ultimatum to the +point four hundred miles south of Bulawayo, where the frontiers of the +Transvaal and of Bechuanaland join. Colonel Holdsworth commanded +the small British force. The Boers, a thousand or so in number, had +descended upon the railway, and an action followed in which the +train appears to have had better luck than has usually attended these +ill-fated contrivances. The Boer commando was driven back and a number +were killed. It was probably news of this affair, and not anything +which had occurred at Mafeking, which caused those rumours of gloom +at Pretoria very shortly after the outbreak of hostilities. An agency +telegraphed that women were weeping in the streets of the Boer capital. +We had not then realised how soon and how often we should see the same +sight in Pall Mall. + +The adventurous armoured train pressed on as far as Lobatsi, where it +found the bridges destroyed; so it returned to its original position, +having another brush with the Boer commandos, and again, in some +marvellous way, escaping its obvious fate. From then until the new year +the line was kept open by an admirable system of patrolling to within +a hundred miles or so of Mafeking. An aggressive spirit and a power of +dashing initiative were shown in the British operations at this side +of the scene of war such as have too often been absent elsewhere. +At Sekwani, on November 24th, a considerable success was gained by a +surprise planned and carried out by Colonel Holdsworth. The Boer laager +was approached and attacked in the early morning by a force of one +hundred and twenty frontiersmen, and so effective was their fire that +the Boers estimated their numbers at several thousand. Thirty Boers were +killed or wounded, and the rest scattered. + +While the railway line was held in this way there had been some +skirmishing also on the northern frontier of the Transvaal. Shortly +after the outbreak of the war the gallant Blackburn, scouting with six +comrades in thick bush, found himself in the presence of a considerable +commando. The British concealed themselves by the path, but Blackburn's +foot was seen by a keen-eyed Kaffir, who pointed it out to his masters. +A sudden volley riddled Blackburn with bullets; but his men stayed by +him and drove off the enemy. Blackburn dictated an official report of +the action, and then died. + +In the same region a small force under Captain Hare was cut off by a +body of Boers. Of the twenty men most got away, but the chaplain J.W. +Leary, Lieutenant Haserick (who behaved with admirable gallantry), and +six men were taken. [Footnote: Mr. Leary was wounded in the foot by a +shell. The German artillerist entered the hut in which he lay. 'Here's +a bit of your work!' said Leary good-humouredly. 'I wish it had been +worse,' said the amiable German gunner.] The commando which attacked +this party, and on the same day Colonel Spreckley's force, was a +powerful one, with several guns. No doubt it was organised because there +were fears among the Boers that they would be invaded from the north. +When it was understood that the British intended no large aggressive +movement in that quarter, these burghers joined other commandos. Sarel +Eloff, who was one of the leaders of this northern force, was afterwards +taken at Mafeking. + +Colonel Plumer had taken command of the small army which was now +operating from the north along the railway line with Mafeking for its +objective. Plumer is an officer of considerable experience in African +warfare, a small, quiet, resolute man, with a knack of gently enforcing +discipline upon the very rough material with which he had to deal. With +his weak force--which never exceeded a thousand men, and was usually +from six to seven hundred--he had to keep the long line behind him open, +build up the ruined railway in front of him, and gradually creep +onwards in face of a formidable and enterprising enemy. For a long +time Gaberones, which is eighty miles north of Mafeking, remained his +headquarters, and thence he kept up precarious communications with the +besieged garrison. In the middle of March he advanced as far south as +Lobatsi, which is less than fifty miles from Mafeking; but the enemy +proved to be too strong, and Plumer had to drop back again with some +loss to his original position at Gaberones. Sticking doggedly to his +task, Plumer again came south, and this time made his way as far +as Ramathlabama, within a day's march of Mafeking. He had with him, +however, only three hundred and fifty men, and had he pushed through the +effect might have been an addition of hungry men to the garrison. The +relieving force was fiercely attacked, however, by the Boers and driven +back on to their camp with a loss of twelve killed, twenty-six wounded, +and fourteen missing. Some of the British were dismounted men, and +it says much for Plumer's conduct of the fight that he was able to +extricate these safely from the midst of an aggressive mounted enemy. +Personally he set an admirable example, sending away his own horse, +and walking with his rearmost soldiers. Captain Crewe Robertson and +Lieutenant Milligan, the famous Yorkshire cricketer, were killed, and +Rolt, Jarvis, Maclaren, and Plumer himself were wounded. The Rhodesian +force withdrew again to near Lobatsi, and collected itself for yet +another effort. + +In the meantime Mafeking--abandoned, as it seemed, to its fate--was +still as formidable as a wounded lion. Far from weakening in its defence +it became more aggressive, and so persistent and skilful were its +riflemen that the big Boer gun had again and again to be moved further +from the town. Six months of trenches and rifle-pits had turned +every inhabitant into a veteran. Now and then words of praise and +encouragement came to them from without. Once it was a special message +from the Queen, once a promise of relief from Lord Roberts. But the +rails which led to England were overgrown with grass, and their brave +hearts yearned for the sight of their countrymen and for the sound of +their voices. 'How long, O Lord, how long?' was the cry which was wrung +from them in their solitude. But the flag was still held high. + +April was a trying month for the defence. They knew that Methuen, who +had advanced as far as Fourteen Streams upon the Vaal River, had retired +again upon Kimberley. They knew also that Plumer's force had been +weakened by the repulse at Ramathlabama, and that many of his men +were down with fever. Six weary months had this village withstood the +pitiless pelt of rifle bullet and shell. Help seemed as far away from +them as ever. But if troubles may be allayed by sympathy, then theirs +should have lain lightly. The attention of the whole empire had centred +upon them, and even the advance of Roberts's army became secondary to +the fate of this gallant struggling handful of men who had upheld the +flag so long. On the Continent also their resistance attracted +the utmost interest, and the numerous journals there who find the +imaginative writer cheaper than the war correspondent announced their +capture periodically as they had once done that of Ladysmith. From a +mere tin-roofed village Mafeking had become a prize of victory, a stake +which should be the visible sign of the predominating manhood of one +or other of the great white races of South Africa. Unconscious of +the keenness of the emotions which they had aroused, the garrison +manufactured brawn from horsehide, and captured locusts as a relish for +their luncheons, while in the shot-torn billiard-room of the club an +open tournament was started to fill in their hours off duty. But their +vigilance, and that of the hawk-eyed man up in the Conning Tower, never +relaxed. The besiegers had increased in number, and their guns were +more numerous than before. A less acute man than Baden-Powell might have +reasoned that at least one desperate effort would be made by them to +carry the town before relief could come. + +On Saturday, May 12th, the attack was made at the favourite hour of the +Boer--the first grey of the morning. It was gallantly delivered by about +three hundred volunteers under the command of Eloff, who had crept +round to the west of the town--the side furthest from the lines of the +besiegers. At the first rush they penetrated into the native quarter, +which was at once set on fire by them. The first building of any size +upon that side is the barracks of the Protectorate Regiment, which was +held by Colonel Hore and about twenty of his officers and men. This was +carried by the enemy, who sent an exultant message along the telephone +to Baden-Powell to tell him that they had got it. Two other positions +within the lines, one a stone kraal and the other a hill, were held by +the Boers, but their supports were slow in coming on, and the movements +of the defenders were so prompt and energetic that all three found +themselves isolated and cut off from their own lines. They had +penetrated the town, but they were as far as ever from having taken it. +All day the British forces drew their cordon closer and closer round the +Boer positions, making no attempt to rush them, but ringing them round +in such a way that there could be no escape for them. A few burghers +slipped away in twos and threes, but the main body found that they had +rushed into a prison from which the only egress was swept with rifle +fire. At seven o'clock in the evening they recognised that their +position was hopeless, and Eloff with 117 men laid down their arms. +Their losses had been ten killed and nineteen wounded. For some reason, +either of lethargy, cowardice, or treachery, Snyman had not brought up +the supports which might conceivably have altered the result. It was a +gallant attack gallantly met, and for once the greater wiliness in fight +was shown by the British. The end was characteristic. 'Good evening, +Commandant,' said Powell to Eloff; 'won't you come in and have +some dinner?' The prisoners--burghers, Hollanders, Germans, and +Frenchmen--were treated to as good a supper as the destitute larders of +the town could furnish. + +So in a small blaze of glory ended the historic siege of Mafeking, for +Eloff's attack was the last, though by no means the worst of the trials +which the garrison had to face. Six killed and ten wounded were the +British losses in this admirably managed affair. On May 17th, five +days after the fight, the relieving force arrived, the besiegers were +scattered, and the long-imprisoned garrison were free men once more. +Many who had looked at their maps and saw this post isolated in the +very heart of Africa had despaired of ever reaching their heroic +fellow-countrymen, and now one universal outbreak of joybells and +bonfires from Toronto to Melbourne proclaimed that there is no spot so +inaccessible that the long arm of the empire cannot reach it when her +children are in peril. + +Colonel Mahon, a young Irish officer who had made his reputation as a +cavalry leader in Egypt, had started early in May from Kimberley with a +small but mobile force consisting of the Imperial Light Horse (brought +round from Natal for the purpose), the Kimberley Mounted Corps, the +Diamond Fields Horse, some Imperial Yeomanry, a detachment of the Cape +Police, and 100 volunteers from the Fusilier brigade, with M battery +R.H.A. and pom-poms, twelve hundred men in all. Whilst Hunter was +fighting his action at Rooidam on May 4th, Mahon with his men +struck round the western flank of the Boers and moved rapidly to the +northwards. On May 11th they had left Vryburg, the halfway house, behind +them, having done one hundred and twenty miles in five days. They pushed +on, encountering no opposition save that of nature, though they knew +that they were being closely watched by the enemy. At Koodoosrand it was +found that a Boer force was in position in front, but Mahon avoided them +by turning somewhat to the westward. His detour took him, however, into +a bushy country, and here the enemy headed him off, opening fire at +short range upon the ubiquitous Imperial Light Horse, who led the +column. A short engagement ensued, in which the casualties amounted to +thirty killed and wounded, but which ended in the defeat and dispersal +of the Boers, whose force was certainly very much weaker than the +British. On May 15th the relieving column arrived without further +opposition at Masibi Stadt, twenty miles to the west of Mafeking. + +In the meantime Plumer's force upon the north had been strengthened +by the addition of C battery of four 12-pounder guns of the Canadian +Artillery under Major Eudon and a body of Queenslanders. These forces +had been part of the small army which had come with General Carrington +through Beira, and after a detour of thousands of miles, through their +own wonderful energy they had arrived in time to form portion of the +relieving column. Foreign military critics, whose experience of warfare +is to move troops across a frontier, should think of what the Empire +has to do before her men go into battle. These contingents had been +assembled by long railway journeys, conveyed across thousands of miles +of ocean to Cape Town, brought round another two thousand or so to +Beira, transferred by a narrow-gauge railway to Bamboo Creek, changed to +a broader gauge to Marandellas, sent on in coaches for hundreds of miles +to Bulawayo, transferred to trains for another four or five hundred +miles to Ootsi, and had finally a forced march of a hundred miles, which +brought them up a few hours before their presence was urgently needed +upon the field. Their advance, which averaged twenty-five miles a day +on foot for four consecutive days over deplorable roads, was one of the +finest performances of the war. With these high-spirited reinforcements +and with his own hardy Rhodesians Plumer pushed on, and the two columns +reached the hamlet of Masibi Stadt within an hour of each other. Their +united strength was far superior to anything which Snyman's force could +place against them. + +But the gallant and tenacious Boers would not abandon their prey without +a last effort. As the little army advanced upon Mafeking they found the +enemy waiting in a strong position. For some hours the Boers gallantly +held their ground, and their artillery fire was, as usual, most +accurate. But our own guns were more numerous and equally well served, +and the position was soon made untenable. The Boers retired past +Mafeking and took refuge in the trenches upon the eastern side, but +Baden-Powell with his war-hardened garrison sallied out, and, supported +by the artillery fire of the relieving column, drove them from their +shelter. With their usual admirable tactics their larger guns had +been removed, but one small cannon was secured as a souvenir by the +townsfolk, together with a number of wagons and a considerable quantity +of supplies. A long rolling trail of dust upon the eastern horizon told +that the famous siege of Mafeking had at last come to an end. + +So ended a singular incident, the defence of an open town which +contained no regular soldiers and a most inadequate artillery against a +numerous and enterprising enemy with very heavy guns. All honour to +the towns folk who bore their trial so long and so bravely--and to the +indomitable men who lined the trenches for seven weary months. Their +constancy was of enormous value to the empire. In the all-important +early month at least four or five thousand Boers were detained by them +when their presence elsewhere would have been fatal. During all the rest +of the war, two thousand men and eight guns (including one of the +four big Creusots) had been held there. It prevented the invasion of +Rhodesia, and it gave a rallying-point for loyal whites and natives in +the huge stretch of country from Kimberley to Bulawayo. All this had, at +a cost of two hundred lives, been done by this one devoted band of +men, who killed, wounded, or took no fewer than one thousand of their +opponents. Critics may say that the enthusiasm in the empire was +excessive, but at least it was expended over worthy men and a fine deed +of arms. + + + +CHAPTER 25. THE MARCH ON PRETORIA. + +In the early days of May, when the season of the rains was past and the +veld was green, Lord Roberts's six weeks of enforced inaction came to +an end. He had gathered himself once more for one of those tiger springs +which should be as sure and as irresistible as that which had brought +him from Belmont to Bloemfontein, or that other in olden days which +had carried him from Cabul to Candahar. His army had been decimated +by sickness, and eight thousand men had passed into the hospitals; but +those who were with the colours were of high heart, longing eagerly for +action. Any change which would carry them away from the pest-ridden, +evil-smelling capital which had revenged itself so terribly upon the +invader must be a change for the better. Therefore it was with glad +faces and brisk feet that the centre column left Bloemfontein on May +1st, and streamed, with bands playing, along the northern road. + +On May 3rd the main force was assembled at Karee, twenty miles upon +their way. Two hundred and twenty separated them from Pretoria, but in +little more than a month from the day of starting, in spite of broken +railway, a succession of rivers, and the opposition of the enemy, this +army was marching into the main street of the Transvaal capital. Had +there been no enemy there at all, it would still have been a fine +performance, the more so when one remembers that the army was moving +upon a front of twenty miles or more, each part of which had to be +co-ordinated to the rest. It is with the story of this great march that +the present chapter deals. + +Roberts had prepared the way by clearing out the south-eastern corner +of the State, and at the moment of his advance his forces covered a +semicircular front of about forty miles, the right under Ian Hamilton +near Thabanchu, and the left at Karee. This was the broad net which +was to be swept from south to north across the Free State, gradually +narrowing as it went. The conception was admirable, and appears to have +been an adoption of the Boers' own strategy, which had in turn been +borrowed from the Zulus. The solid centre could hold any force which +faced it, while the mobile flanks, Hutton upon the left and Hamilton +upon the right, could lap round and pin it, as Cronje was pinned at +Paardeberg. It seems admirably simple when done upon a small scale. But +when the scale is one of forty miles, since your front must be broad +enough to envelop the front which is opposed to it, and when the +scattered wings have to be fed with no railway line to help, it takes +such a master of administrative detail as Lord Kitchener to bring the +operations to complete success. + +On May 3rd, the day of the advance from our most northern post, Karee, +the disposition of Lord Roberts's army was briefly as follows. On his +left was Hutton, with his mixed force of mounted infantry drawn from +every quarter of the empire. This formidable and mobile body, with some +batteries of horse artillery and of pom-poms, kept a line a few miles to +the west of the railroad, moving northwards parallel with it. Roberts's +main column kept on the railroad, which was mended with extraordinary +speed by the Railway Pioneer regiment and the Engineers, under Girouard +and the ill-fated Seymour. It was amazing to note the shattered culverts +as one passed, and yet to be overtaken by trains within a day. This +main column consisted of Pole-Carew's 11th Division, which contained +the Guards, and Stephenson's Brigade (Warwicks, Essex, Welsh, and +Yorkshires). With them were the 83rd, 84th, and 85th R.F.A., with the +heavy guns, and a small force of mounted infantry. Passing along the +widespread British line one would then, after an interval of seven or +eight miles, come upon Tucker's Division (the 7th), which consisted +of Maxwell's Brigade (formerly Chermside's--the Norfolks, Lincolns, +Hampshires, and Scottish Borderers) and Wavell's Brigade (North +Staffords, Cheshires, East Lancashires, South Wales Borderers). To the +right of these was Ridley's mounted infantry. Beyond them, extending +over very many miles of country and with considerable spaces between, +there came Broadwood's cavalry, Bruce Hamilton's Brigade (Derbyshires, +Sussex, Camerons, and C.I.V.), and finally on the extreme right of +all Ian Hamilton's force of Highlanders, Canadians, Shropshires, and +Cornwalls, with cavalry and mounted infantry, starting forty miles from +Lord Roberts, but edging westwards all the way, to merge with the troops +next to it, and to occupy Winburg in the way already described. This +was the army, between forty and fifty thousand strong, with which Lord +Roberts advanced upon the Transvaal. + +In the meantime he had anticipated that his mobile and enterprising +opponents would work round and strike at our rear. Ample means had been +provided for dealing with any attempt of the kind. Rundle with the 8th +Division and Brabant's Colonial Division remained in rear of the right +flank to confront any force which might turn it. At Bloemfontein were +Kelly-Kenny's Division (the 6th) and Chermside's (the 3rd), with a force +of cavalry and guns. Methuen, working from Kimberley towards Boshof, +formed the extreme left wing of the main advance, though distant a +hundred miles from it. With excellent judgment Lord Roberts saw that +it was on our right flank that danger was to be feared, and here it was +that every precaution had been taken to meet it. + +The objective of the first day's march was the little town of Brandfort, +ten miles north of Karee. The head of the main column faced it, while +the left arm swept round and drove the Boer force from their position. +Tucker's Division upon the right encountered some opposition, but +overbore it with artillery. May 4th was a day of rest for the infantry, +but on the 5th they advanced, in the same order as before, for twenty +miles, and found themselves to the south of the Vet River, where the +enemy had prepared for an energetic resistance. A vigorous artillery +duel ensued, the British guns in the open as usual against an invisible +enemy. After three hours of a very hot fire the mounted infantry got +across the river upon the left and turned the Boer flank, on which +they hastily withdrew. The first lodgment was effected by two bodies +of Canadians and New Zealanders, who were energetically supported +by Captain Anley's 3rd Mounted Infantry. The rushing of a kopje by +twenty-three West Australians was another gallant incident which marked +this engagement, in which our losses were insignificant. A maxim and +twenty or thirty prisoners were taken by Hutton's men. The next day (May +6th) the army moved across the difficult drift of the Vet River, and +halted that night at Smaldeel, some five miles to the north of it. At +the same time Ian Hamilton had been able to advance to Winburg, so that +the army had contracted its front by about half, but had preserved its +relative positions. Hamilton, after his junction with his reinforcements +at Jacobsrust, had under him so powerful a force that he overbore all +resistance. His actions between Thabanchu and Winburg had cost the Boers +heavy loss, and in one action the German legion had been overthrown. +The informal warfare which was made upon us by citizens of many nations +without rebuke from their own Governments is a matter of which pride, +and possibly policy, have forbidden us to complain, but it will be +surprising if it does not prove that their laxity has established a very +dangerous precedent, and they will find it difficult to object when, in +the next little war in which either France or Germany is engaged, they +find a few hundred British adventurers carrying a rifle against them. + +The record of the army's advance is now rather geographical than +military, for it rolled northwards with never a check save that which +was caused by the construction of the railway diversions which atoned +for the destruction of the larger bridges. The infantry now, as always +in the campaign, marched excellently; for though twenty miles in the day +may seem a moderate allowance to a healthy man upon an English road, +it is a considerable performance under an African sun with a weight of +between thirty and forty pounds to be carried. The good humour of the +men was admirable, and they eagerly longed to close with the elusive +enemy who flitted ever in front of them. Huge clouds of smoke veiled +the northern sky, for the Boers had set fire to the dry grass, partly +to cover their own retreat, and partly to show up our khaki upon the +blackened surface. Far on the flanks the twinkling heliographs revealed +the position of the wide-spread wings. + +On May 10th Lord Roberts's force, which had halted for three days at +Smaldeel, moved onwards to Welgelegen. French's cavalry had come up by +road, and quickly strengthened the centre and left wing of the army. On +the morning of the 10th the invaders found themselves confronted by a +formidable position which the Boers had taken up on the northern bank +of the Sand River. Their army extended over twenty miles of country, the +two Bothas were in command, and everything pointed to a pitched battle. +Had the position been rushed from the front, there was every material +for a second Colenso, but the British had learned that it was by brains +rather than by blood that such battles may be won. French's cavalry +turned the Boers on one side, and Bruce Hamilton's infantry on the +other. Theoretically we never passed the Boer flanks, but practically +their line was so over-extended that we were able to pierce it at any +point. There was never any severe fighting, but rather a steady advance +upon the British side and a steady retirement upon that of the Boers. On +the left the Sussex regiment distinguished itself by the dash with which +it stormed an important kopje. The losses were slight, save among a +detached body of cavalry which found itself suddenly cut off by a strong +force of the enemy and lost Captain Elworthy killed, and Haig of +the Inniskillings, Wilkinson of the Australian Horse, and twenty men +prisoners. We also secured forty or fifty prisoners, and the enemy's +casualties amounted to about as many more. The whole straggling action +fought over a front as broad as from London to Woking cost the British +at the most a couple of hundred casualties, and carried their army over +the most formidable defensive position which they were to encounter. +The war in its later phases certainly has the pleasing characteristic of +being the most bloodless, considering the number of men engaged and the +amount of powder burned, that has been known in history. It was at the +expense of their boots and not of their lives that the infantry won +their way. + +On May 11th Lord Roberts's army advanced twenty miles to Geneva Siding, +and every preparation was made for a battle next day, as it was thought +certain that the Boers would defend their new capital, Kroonstad. It +proved, however, that even here they would not make a stand, and on May +12th, at one o'clock, Lord Roberts rode into the town. Steyn, Botha, +and De Wet escaped, and it was announced that the village of Lindley had +become the new seat of government. The British had now accomplished half +their journey to Pretoria, and it was obvious that on the south side +of the Vaal no serious resistance awaited them. Burghers were freely +surrendering themselves with their arms, and returning to their farms. +In the south-east Rundle and Brabant were slowly advancing, while the +Boers who faced them fell back towards Lindley. On the west, Hunter had +crossed the Vaal at Windsorton, and Barton's Fusilier Brigade had fought +a sharp action at Rooidam, while Mahon's Mafeking relief column had +slipped past their flank, escaping the observation of the British +public, but certainly not that of the Boers. The casualties in the +Rooidam action were nine killed and thirty wounded, but the advance of +the Fusiliers was irresistible, and for once the Boer loss, as they were +hustled from kopje to kopje, appears to have been greater than that of +the British. The Yeomanry had an opportunity of showing once more that +there are few more high-mettled troops in South Africa than these good +sportsmen of the shires, who only showed a trace of their origin in +their irresistible inclination to burst into a 'tally-ho!' when ordered +to attack. The Boer forces fell back after the action along the line of +the Vaal, making for Christiana and Bloemhof. Hunter entered into the +Transvaal in pursuit of them, being the first to cross the border, with +the exception of raiding Rhodesians early in the war. Methuen, in the +meanwhile, was following a course parallel to Hunter but south of him, +Hoopstad being his immediate objective. The little union jacks which +were stuck in the war maps in so many British households were now moving +swiftly upwards. + +Buller's force was also sweeping northwards, and the time had come when +the Ladysmith garrison, restored at last to health and strength, should +have a chance of striking back at those who had tormented them so long. +Many of the best troops had been drafted away to other portions of the +seat of war. Hart's Brigade and Barton's Fusilier Brigade had gone +with Hunter to form the 10th Division upon the Kimberley side, and the +Imperial Light Horse had been brought over for the relief of Mafeking. +There remained, however, a formidable force, the regiments in which had +been strengthened by the addition of drafts and volunteers from home. +Not less than twenty thousand sabres and bayonets were ready and eager +for the passage of the Biggarsberg mountains. + +This line of rugged hills is pierced by only three passes, each of which +was held in strength by the enemy. Considerable losses must have ensued +from any direct attempt to force them. Buller, however, with excellent +judgment, demonstrated in front of them with Hildyard's men, while the +rest of the army, marching round, outflanked the line of resistance, and +on May 15th pounced upon Dundee. Much had happened since that October +day when Penn Symons led his three gallant regiments up Talana Hill, but +now at last, after seven weary months, the ground was reoccupied which +he had gained. His old soldiers visited his grave, and the national flag +was raised over the remains of as gallant a man as ever died for the +sake of it. + +The Boers, whose force did not exceed a few thousands, were now rolled +swiftly back through Northern Natal into their own country. The long +strain at Ladysmith had told upon them, and the men whom we had to meet +were very different from the warriors of Spion Kop and Nicholson's Nek. +They had done magnificently, but there is a limit to human endurance, +and no longer would these peasants face the bursting lyddite and the +bayonets of angry soldiers. There is little enough for us to boast of in +this. Some pride might be taken in the campaign when at a disadvantage +we were facing superior numbers, but now we could but deplore the +situation in which these poor valiant burghers found themselves, the +victims of a rotten government and of their own delusions. Hofer's +Tyrolese, Charette's Vendeans, or Bruce's Scotchmen never fought a finer +fight than these children of the veld, but in each case they combated a +real and not an imaginary tyrant. It is heart-sickening to think of the +butchery, the misery, the irreparable losses, the blood of men, and +the bitter tears of women, all of which might have been spared had one +obstinate and ignorant man been persuaded to allow the State which he +ruled to conform to the customs of every other civilised State upon the +earth. + +Buller was now moving with a rapidity and decision which contrast +pleasantly with some of his earlier operations. Although Dundee was only +occupied on May 15th, on May 18th his vanguard was in Newcastle, fifty +miles to the north. In nine days he had covered 138 miles. On the 19th +the army lay under the loom of that Majuba which had cast its sinister +shadow for so long over South African politics. In front was the +historical Laing's Nek, the pass which leads from Natal into the +Transvaal, while through it runs the famous railway tunnel. Here the +Boers had taken up that position which had proved nineteen years before +to be too strong for British troops. The Rooineks had come back after +many days to try again. A halt was called, for the ten days' supplies +which had been taken with the troops were exhausted, and it was +necessary to wait until the railway should be repaired. This gave time +for Hildyard's 5th Division and Lyttelton's 4th Division to close up +on Clery's 2nd Division, which with Dundonald's cavalry had formed our +vanguard throughout. The only losses of any consequence during this fine +march fell upon a single squadron of Bethune's mounted infantry, which +being thrown out in the direction of Vryheid, in order to make sure that +our flank was clear, fell into an ambuscade and was almost annihilated +by a close-range fire. Sixty-six casualties, of which nearly half were +killed, were the result of this action, which seems to have depended, +like most of our reverses, upon defective scouting. Buller, having +called up his two remaining divisions and having mended the railway +behind him, proceeded now to manoeuvre the Boers out of Laing's Nek +exactly as he had manoeuvred them out of the Biggarsberg. At the end of +May Hildyard and Lyttelton were despatched in an eastern direction, as +if there were an intention of turning the pass from Utrecht. + +It was on May 12th that Lord Roberts occupied Kroonstad, and he halted +there for eight days before he resumed his advance. At the end of that +time his railway had been repaired, and enough supplies brought up to +enable him to advance again without anxiety. The country through which +he passed swarmed with herds and flocks, but, with as scrupulous a +regard for the rights of property as Wellington showed in the south of +France, no hungry soldier was allowed to take so much as a chicken as he +passed. The punishment for looting was prompt and stern. It is true that +farms were burned occasionally and the stock confiscated, but this was +as a punishment for some particular offence and not part of a system. +The limping Tommy looked askance at the fat geese which covered the dam +by the roadside, but it was as much as his life was worth to allow his +fingers to close round those tempting white necks. On foul water and +bully beef he tramped through a land of plenty. + +Lord Roberts's eight days' halt was spent in consolidating the general +military situation. We have already shown how Buller had crept upwards +to the Natal Border. On the west Methuen reached Hoopstad and Hunter +Christiana, settling the country and collecting arms as they went. +Rundle in the south-east took possession of the rich grain lands, and +on May 21st entered Ladybrand. In front of him lay that difficult hilly +country about Senekal, Ficksburg, and Bethlehem which was to delay him +so long. Ian Hamilton was feeling his way northwards to the right of the +railway line, and for the moment cleared the district between Lindley +and Heilbron, passing through both towns and causing Steyn to again +change his capital, which became Vrede, in the extreme north-east of the +State. During these operations Hamilton had the two formidable De Wet +brothers in front of him, and suffered nearly a hundred casualties in +the continual skirmishing which accompanied his advance. His right flank +and rear were continually attacked, and these signs of forces outside +our direct line of advance were full of menace for the future. + +On May 22nd the main army resumed its advance, moving forward fifteen +miles to Honing's Spruit. On the 23rd another march of twenty miles over +a fine rolling prairie brought them to Rhenoster River. The enemy had +made some preparations for a stand, but Hamilton was near Heilbron upon +their left and French was upon their right flank. The river was crossed +without opposition. On the 24th the army was at Vredefort Road, and on +the 26th the vanguard crossed the Vaal River at Viljoen's Drift, the +whole army following on the 27th. Hamilton's force had been cleverly +swung across from the right to the left flank of the British, so that +the Boers were massed on the wrong side. + +Preparations for resistance had been made on the line of the railway, +but the wide turning movements on the flanks by the indefatigable French +and Hamilton rendered all opposition of no avail. The British columns +flowed over and onwards without a pause, tramping steadily northwards +to their destination. The bulk of the Free State forces refused to leave +their own country, and moved away to the eastern and northern portion +of the State, where the British Generals thought--incorrectly, as the +future was to prove--that no further harm would come from them. The +State which they were in arms to defend had really ceased to exist, for +already it had been publicly proclaimed at Bloemfontein in the Queen's +name that the country had been annexed to the Empire, and that its style +henceforth was that of 'The Orange River Colony.' Those who think this +measure unduly harsh must remember that every mile of land which the +Freestaters had conquered in the early part of the war had been solemnly +annexed by them. At the same time, those Englishmen who knew the history +of this State, which had once been the model of all that a State should +be, were saddened by the thought that it should have deliberately +committed suicide for the sake of one of the most corrupt governments +which have ever been known. Had the Transvaal been governed as the +Orange Free State was, such an event as the second Boer war could never +have occurred. + +Lord Roberts's tremendous march was now drawing to a close. On May +28th the troops advanced twenty miles, and passed Klip River without +fighting. It was observed with surprise that the Transvaalers were very +much more careful of their own property than they had been of that +of their allies, and that the railway was not damaged at all by the +retreating forces. The country had become more populous, and far away +upon the low curves of the hills were seen high chimneys and gaunt +iron pumps which struck the north of England soldier with a pang of +homesickness. This long distant hill was the famous Rand, and under its +faded grasses lay such riches as Solomon never took from Ophir. It was +the prize of victory; and yet the prize is not to the victor, for the +dust-grimed officers and men looked with little personal interest at +this treasure-house of the world. Not one penny the richer would they be +for the fact that their blood and their energy had brought justice +and freedom to the gold fields. They had opened up an industry for the +world, men of all nations would be the better for their labours, the +miner and the financier or the trader would equally profit by them, but +the men in khaki would tramp on, unrewarded and uncomplaining, to India, +to China, to any spot where the needs of their worldwide empire called +them. + +The infantry, streaming up from the Vaal River to the famous ridge of +gold, had met with no resistance upon the way, but great mist banks +of cloud by day and huge twinkling areas of flame by night showed the +handiwork of the enemy. Hamilton and French, moving upon the left flank, +found Boers thick upon the hills, but cleared them off in a well-managed +skirmish which cost us a dozen casualties. On May 29th, pushing swiftly +along, French found the enemy posted very strongly with several guns at +Doornkop, a point west of Klip River Berg. The cavalry leader had with +him at this stage three horse batteries, four pom-poms, and 3000 mounted +men. The position being too strong for him to force, Hamilton's infantry +(19th and 21st Brigades) were called up, and the Boers were driven out. +That splendid corps, the Gordons, lost nearly a hundred men in their +advance over the open, and the C.I.V.s on the other flank fought like +a regiment of veterans. There had been an inclination to smile at these +citizen soldiers when they first came out, but no one smiled now save +the General who felt that he had them at his back. Hamilton's attack +was assisted by the menace rather than the pressure of French's turning +movement on the Boer right, but the actual advance was as purely frontal +as any of those which had been carried through at the beginning of the +war. The open formation of the troops, the powerful artillery behind +them, and perhaps also the lowered morale of the enemy combined to +make such a movement less dangerous than of old. In any case it was +inevitable, as the state of Hamilton's commisariat rendered it necessary +that at all hazards he should force his way through. + +Whilst this action of Doornkop was fought by the British left flank, +Henry's mounted infantry in the centre moved straight upon the important +junction of Germiston, which lies amid the huge white heaps of tailings +from the mines. At this point, or near it, the lines from Johannesburg +and from Natal join the line to Pretoria. Colonel Henry's advance was +an extremely daring one, for the infantry were some distance behind; but +after an irregular scrambling skirmish, in which the Boer snipers had to +be driven off the mine heaps and from among the houses, the 8th mounted +infantry got their grip of the railway and held it. The exploit was a +very fine one, and stands out the more brilliantly as the conduct of the +campaign cannot be said to afford many examples of that well-considered +audacity which deliberately runs the risk of the minor loss for the sake +of the greater gain. Henry was much assisted by J battery R.H.A., which +was handled with energy and judgment. + +French was now on the west of the town, Henry had cut the railway on the +east, and Roberts was coming up from the south. His infantry had covered +130 miles in seven days, but the thought that every step brought them +nearer to Pretoria was as exhilarating as their fifes and drums. On May +30th the victorious troops camped outside the city while Botha retired +with his army, abandoning without a battle the treasure-house of his +country. Inside the town were chaos and confusion. The richest mines in +the world lay for a day or more at the mercy of a lawless rabble drawn +from all nations. The Boer officials were themselves divided in opinion, +Krause standing for law and order while Judge Koch advocated violence. +A spark would have set the town blazing, and the worst was feared when +a crowd of mercenaries assembled in front of the Robinson mine with +threats of violence. By the firmness and tact of Mr. Tucker, the +manager, and by the strong attitude of Commissioner Krause, the +situation was saved and the danger passed. Upon May 31st, without +violence to life or destruction to property, that great town which +British hands have done so much to build found itself at last under the +British flag. May it wave there so long as it covers just laws, honest +officials, and clean-handed administrators--so long and no longer! + +And now the last stage of the great journey had been reached. Two days +were spent at Johannesburg while supplies were brought up, and then a +move was made upon Pretoria thirty miles to the north. Here was the Boer +capital, the seat of government, the home of Kruger, the centre of +all that was anti-British, crouching amid its hills, with costly forts +guarding every face of it. Surely at last the place had been found where +that great battle should be fought which should decide for all time +whether it was with the Briton or with the Dutchman that the future of +South Africa lay. + +On the last day of May two hundred Lancers under the command of Major +Hunter Weston, with Charles of the Sappers and Burnham the scout, a man +who has played the part of a hero throughout the campaign, struck off +from the main army and endeavoured to descend upon the Pretoria to +Delagoa railway line with the intention of blowing up a bridge and +cutting the Boer line of retreat. It was a most dashing attempt; but the +small party had the misfortune to come into contact with a strong Boer +commando, who headed them off. After a skirmish they were compelled to +make their way back with a loss of five killed and fourteen wounded. + +The cavalry under French had waited for the issue of this enterprise +at a point nine miles north of Johannesburg. On June 2nd it began its +advance with orders to make a wide sweep round to the westward, and so +skirt the capital, cutting the Pietersburg railway to the north of +it. The country in the direct line between Johannesburg and Pretoria +consists of a series of rolling downs which are admirably adapted for +cavalry work, but the detour which French had to make carried him into +the wild and broken district which lies to the north of the Little +Crocodile River. Here he was fiercely attacked on ground where his +troops could not deploy, but with extreme coolness and judgment beat off +the enemy. To cover thirty-two miles in a day and fight a way out of an +ambuscade in the evening is an ordeal for any leader and for any troops. +Two killed and seven wounded were our trivial losses in a situation +which might have been a serious one. The Boers appear to have been the +escort of a strong convoy which had passed along the road some miles +in front. Next morning both convoy and opposition had disappeared. The +cavalry rode on amid a country of orange groves, the troopers standing +up in their stirrups to pluck the golden fruit. There was no further +fighting, and on June 4th French had established himself upon the north +of the town, where he learned that all resistance had ceased. + +Whilst the cavalry had performed this enveloping movement the main army +had moved swiftly upon its objective, leaving one brigade behind to +secure Johannesburg. Ian Hamilton advanced upon the left, while Lord +Roberts's column kept the line of the railway, Colonel Henry's mounted +infantry scouting in front. As the army topped the low curves of the +veld they saw in front of them two well-marked hills, each crowned by +a low squat building. They were the famous southern forts of Pretoria. +Between the hills was a narrow neck, and beyond the Boer capital. + +For a time it appeared that the entry was to be an absolutely bloodless +one, but the booming of cannon and the crash of Mauser fire soon showed +that the enemy was in force upon the ridge. Botha had left a strong +rearguard to hold off the British while his own stores and valuables +were being withdrawn from the town. The silence of the forts showed that +the guns had been removed and that no prolonged resistance was intended; +but in the meanwhile fringes of determined riflemen, supported by +cannon, held the approaches, and must be driven off before an entry +could be effected. Each fresh corps as it came up reinforced the firing +line. Henry's mounted infantrymen supported by the horse-guns of J +battery and the guns of Tucker's division began the action. So hot was +the answer, both from cannon and from rifle, that it seemed for a +time as if a real battle were at last about to take place. The Guards' +Brigade, Stephenson's Brigade, and Maxwell's Brigade streamed up and +waited until Hamilton, who was on the enemy's right flank, should be +able to make his presence felt. The heavy guns had also arrived, and a +huge cloud of debris rising from the Pretorian forts told the accuracy +of their fire. + +But either the burghers were half-hearted or there was no real intention +to make a stand. About half-past two their fire slackened and Pole-Carew +was directed to push on. That debonnaire soldier with his two veteran +brigades obeyed the order with alacrity, and the infantry swept over the +ridge, with some thirty or forty casualties, the majority of which fell +to the Warwicks. The position was taken, and Hamilton, who came up +late, was only able to send on De Lisle's mounted infantry, chiefly +Australians, who ran down one of the Boer maxims in the open. The action +had cost us altogether about seventy men. Among the injured was the Duke +of Norfolk, who had shown a high sense of civic virtue in laying aside +the duties and dignity of a Cabinet Minister in order to serve as a +simple captain of volunteers. At the end of this one fight the capital +lay at the mercy of Lord Roberts. Consider the fight which they made for +their chief city, compare it with that which the British made for the +village of Mafeking, and say on which side is that stern spirit of +self-sacrifice and resolution which are the signs of the better cause. + +In the early morning of June 5th, the Coldstream Guards were mounting +the hills which commanded the town. Beneath them in the clear African +air lay the famous city, embowered in green, the fine central buildings +rising grandly out of the wide circle of villas. Through the Nek part of +the Guards' Brigade and Maxwell's Brigade had passed, and had taken over +the station, from which at least one train laden with horses had steamed +that morning. Two others, both ready to start, were only just stopped in +time. + +The first thought was for the British prisoners, and a small party +headed by the Duke of Marlborough rode to their rescue. Let it be said +once for all that their treatment by the Boers was excellent and that +their appearance would alone have proved it. One hundred and twenty-nine +officers and thirty-nine soldiers were found in the Model Schools, which +had been converted into a prison. A day later our cavalry arrived at +Waterval, which is fourteen miles to the north of Pretoria. Here were +confined three thousand soldiers, whose fare had certainly been of +the scantiest, though in other respects they appear to have been well +treated. [Footnote: Further information unfortunately shows that in the +case of the sick and of the Colonial prisoners the treatment was by +no means good.] Nine hundred of their comrades had been removed by the +Boers, but Porter's cavalry was in time to release the others, under +a brisk shell fire from a Boer gun upon the ridge. Many pieces of good +luck we had in the campaign, but this recovery of our prisoners, which +left the enemy without a dangerous lever for exacting conditions of +peace, was the most fortunate of all. + +In the centre of the town there is a wide square decorated or disfigured +by a bare pedestal upon which a statue of the President was to have been +placed. Hard by is the bleak barnlike church in which he preached, and +on either side are the Government offices and the Law Courts, buildings +which would grace any European capital. Here, at two o'clock on the +afternoon of June 5th, Lord Roberts sat his horse and saw pass in +front of him the men who had followed him so far and so faithfully--the +Guards, the Essex, the Welsh, the Yorks, the Warwicks, the guns, the +mounted infantry, the dashing irregulars, the Gordons, the Canadians, +the Shropshires, the Cornwalls, the Camerons, the Derbys, the Sussex, +and the London Volunteers. For over two hours the khaki waves with their +crests of steel went sweeping by. High above their heads from the summit +of the Raad-saal the broad Union Jack streamed for the first time. +Through months of darkness we had struggled onwards to the light. Now +at last the strange drama seemed to be drawing to its close. The God of +battles had given the long-withheld verdict. But of all the hearts which +throbbed high at that supreme moment there were few who felt one touch +of bitterness towards the brave men who had been overborne. They had +fought and died for their ideal. We had fought and died for ours. The +hope for the future of South Africa is that they or their descendants +may learn that that banner which has come to wave above Pretoria means +no racial intolerance, no greed for gold, no paltering with injustice or +corruption, but that it means one law for all and one freedom for all, +as it does in every other continent in the whole broad earth. When that +is learned it may happen that even they will come to date a happier life +and a wider liberty from that 5th of June which saw the symbol of their +nation pass for ever from among the ensigns of the world. + + + +CHAPTER 26. DIAMOND HILL--RUNDLE'S OPERATIONS. + +The military situation at the time of the occupation of Pretoria was +roughly as follows. Lord Roberts with some thirty thousand men was in +possession of the capital, but had left his long line of communications +very imperfectly guarded behind him. On the flank of this line of +communications, in the eastern and north-eastern corner of the Free +State, was an energetic force of unconquered Freestaters who had rallied +round President Steyn. They were some eight or ten thousand in number, +well horsed, with a fair number of guns, under the able leadership of +De Wet, Prinsloo, and Olivier. Above all, they had a splendid position, +mountainous and broken, from which, as from a fortress, they could make +excursions to the south or west. This army included the commandos of +Ficksburg, Senekal, and Harrismith, with all the broken and desperate +men from other districts who had left their farms and fled to the +mountains. It was held in check as a united force by Rundle's Division +and the Colonial Division on the south, while Colvile, and afterwards +Methuen, endeavoured to pen them in on the west. The task was a hard +one, however, and though Rundle succeeded in holding his line intact, it +appeared to be impossible in that wide country to coop up altogether +an enemy so mobile. A strange game of hide-and-seek ensued, in which De +Wet, who led the Boer raids, was able again and again to strike our +line of rails and to get back without serious loss. The story of these +instructive and humiliating episodes will be told in their order. The +energy and skill of the guerilla chief challenge our admiration, and the +score of his successes would be amusing were it not that the points of +the game are marked by the lives of British soldiers. + +General Buller had spent the latter half of May in making his way from +Ladysmith to Laing's Nek, and the beginning of June found him with +twenty thousand men in front of that difficult position. Some talk of +a surrender had arisen, and Christian Botha, who commanded the Boers, +succeeded in gaining several days' armistice, which ended in nothing. +The Transvaal forces at this point were not more than a few thousand in +number, but their position was so formidable that it was a serious task +to turn them out. Van Wyk's Hill, however, had been left unguarded, and +as its possession would give the British the command of Botha's Pass, +its unopposed capture by the South African Light Horse was an event of +great importance. With guns upon this eminence the infantry were able, +on June 8th, to attack and to carry with little loss the rest of the +high ground, and so to get the Pass into their complete possession. +Botha fired the grass behind him, and withdrew sullenly to the north. On +the 9th and 10th the convoys were passed over the Pass, and on the 11th +the main body of the army followed them. + +The operations were now being conducted in that extremely acute angle of +Natal which runs up between the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. +In crossing Botha's Pass the army had really entered what was now the +Orange River Colony. But it was only for a very short time, as the +object of the movement was to turn the Laing's Nek position, and then +come back into the Transvaal through Alleman's Pass. The gallant South +African Light Horse led the way, and fought hard at one point to clear +a path for the army, losing six killed and eight wounded in a sharp +skirmish. On the morning of the 12th the flanking movement was far +advanced, and it only remained for the army to force Alleman's Nek, +which would place it to the rear of Laing's Nek, and close to the +Transvaal town of Volksrust. + +Had the Boers been the men of Colenso and of Spion Kop, this storming +of Alleman's Nek would have been a bloody business. The position was +strong, the cover was slight, and there was no way round. But the +infantry came on with the old dash without the old stubborn resolution +being opposed to them. The guns prepared the way, and then the Dorsets, +the Dublins, the Middlesex, the Queen's, and the East Surrey did the +rest. The door was open and the Transvaal lay before us. The next day +Volksrust was in our hands. + +The whole series of operations were excellently conceived and carried +out. Putting Colenso on one side, it cannot be denied that General +Buller showed considerable power of manoeuvring large bodies of troops. +The withdrawal of the compromised army after Spion Kop, the change of +the line of attack at Pieter's Hill, and the flanking marches in this +campaign of Northern Natal, were all very workmanlike achievements. +In this case a position which the Boers had been preparing for months, +scored with trenches and topped by heavy artillery, had been rendered +untenable by a clever flank movement, the total casualties in the whole +affair being less than two hundred killed and wounded. Natal was cleared +of the invader, Buller's foot was on the high plateau of the Transvaal, +and Roberts could count on twenty thousand good men coming up to him +from the south-east. More important than all, the Natal railway was +being brought up, and soon the central British Army would depend +upon Durban instead of Cape Town for its supplies--a saving of nearly +two-thirds of the distance. The fugitive Boers made northwards in the +Middelburg direction, while Buller advanced to Standerton, which town he +continued to occupy until Lord Roberts could send a force down through +Heidelberg to join hands with him. Such was the position of the Natal +Field Force at the end of June. From the west and the south-west +British forces were also converging upon the capital. The indomitable +Baden-Powell sought for rest and change of scene after his prolonged +trial by harrying the Boers out of Zeerust and Rustenburg. The forces +of Hunter and of Mahon converged upon Potchefstroom, from which, after +settling that district, they could be conveyed by rail to Krugersdorp +and Johannesburg. + +Before briefly recounting the series of events which took place upon +the line of communications, the narrative must return to Lord Roberts at +Pretoria, and describe the operations which followed his occupation of +that city. In leaving the undefeated forces of the Free State behind +him, the British General had unquestionably run a grave risk, and was +well aware that his railway communication was in danger of being cut. +By the rapidity of his movements he succeeded in gaining the enemy's +capital before that which he had foreseen came to pass; but if Botha had +held him at Pretoria while De Wet struck at him behind, the situation +would have been a serious one. Having once attained his main object, +Roberts could receive with equanimity the expected news that De Wet with +a mobile force of less than two thousand men had, on June 7th, cut the +line at Roodeval to the north of Kroonstad. Both rail and telegraph were +destroyed, and for a few days the army was isolated. Fortunately there +were enough supplies to go on with, and immediate steps were taken to +drive away the intruder, though, like a mosquito, he was brushed from +one place only to settle upon another. + +Leaving others to restore his broken communications, Lord Roberts turned +his attention once more to Botha, who still retained ten or fifteen +thousand men under his command. The President had fled from Pretoria +with a large sum of money, estimated at over two millions sterling, +and was known to be living in a saloon railway carriage, which had been +transformed into a seat of government even more mobile than that of +President Steyn. From Waterval-Boven, a point beyond Middelburg, he +was in a position either to continue his journey to Delagoa Bay, and so +escape out of the country, or to travel north into that wild Lydenburg +country which had always been proclaimed as the last ditch of the +defence. Here he remained with his gold-bags waiting the turn of events. + +Botha and his stalwarts had not gone far from the capital. Fifteen miles +out to the east the railway line runs through a gap in the hills called +Pienaars Poort, and here was such a position as the Boer loves to +hold. It was very strong in front, and it had widely spread formidable +flanking hills to hamper those turning movements which had so often +been fatal to the Boer generals. Behind was the uncut railway line along +which the guns could in case of need be removed. The whole position was +over fifteen miles from wing to wing, and it was well known to the Boer +general that Lord Roberts had no longer that preponderance of force +which would enable him to execute wide turning movements, as he had +done in his advance from the south. His army had decreased seriously in +numbers. The mounted men, the most essential branch of all, were so +ill horsed that brigades were not larger than regiments. One brigade of +infantry (the 14th) had been left to garrison Johannesburg, and another +(the 18th) had been chosen for special duty in Pretoria. Smith-Dorrien's +Brigade had been detached for duty upon the line of communications. With +all these deductions and the wastage caused by wounds and disease, the +force was in no state to assume a vigorous offensive. So hard pressed +were they for men that the three thousand released prisoners from +Waterval were hurriedly armed with Boer weapons and sent down the line +to help to guard the more vital points. + +Had Botha withdrawn to a safe distance, Lord Roberts would certainly +have halted, as he had done at Bloemfontein, and waited for remounts +and reinforcements. But the war could not be allowed to languish when an +active enemy lay only fifteen miles off, within striking distance of +two cities and of the line of rail. Taking all the troops that he could +muster, the British General moved out once more on Monday, June 11th, +to drive Botha from his position. He had with him Pole-Carew's 11th +Division, which numbered about six thousand men with twenty guns, +Ian Hamilton's force, which included one infantry brigade (Bruce +Hamilton's), one cavalry brigade, and a corps of mounted infantry, say, +six thousand in all, with thirty guns. There remained French's Cavalry +Division, with Hutton's Mounted Infantry, which could not have exceeded +two thousand sabres and rifles. The total force was, therefore, not more +than sixteen or seventeen thousand men, with about seventy guns. Their +task was to carry a carefully prepared position held by at least ten +thousand burghers with a strong artillery. Had the Boer of June been the +Boer of December, the odds would have been against the British. + +There had been some negotiations for peace between Lord Roberts and +Botha, but the news of De Wet's success from the south had hardened the +Boer general's heart, and on June 9th the cavalry had their orders to +advance. Hamilton was to work round the left wing of the Boers, and +French round their right, while the infantry came up in the centre. So +wide was the scene of action that the attack and the resistance in +each flank and in the centre constituted, on June 11th, three separate +actions. Of these the latter was of least importance, as it merely +entailed the advance of the infantry to a spot whence they could take +advantage of the success of the flanking forces when they had made their +presence felt. The centre did not on this as on several other occasions +in the campaign make the mistake of advancing before the way had been +prepared for it. + +French with his attenuated force found so vigorous a resistance +on Monday and Tuesday that he was hard put to it to hold his own. +Fortunately he had with him three excellent Horse Artillery batteries, +G, O, and T, who worked until, at the end of the engagement, they had +only twenty rounds in their limbers. The country was an impossible +one for cavalry, and the troopers fought dismounted, with intervals of +twenty or thirty paces between the men. Exposed all day to rifle and +shell fire, unable to advance and unwilling to retreat, it was only +owing to their open formation that they escaped with about thirty +casualties. With Boers on his front, his flank, and even on his rear, +French held grimly on, realising that a retreat upon his part would mean +a greater pressure at all other points of the British advance. At night +his weary men slept upon the ground which they had held. All Monday and +all Tuesday French kept his grip at Kameelsdrift, stolidly indifferent +to the attempt of the enemy to cut his line of communications. On +Wednesday, Hamilton, upon the other flank, had gained the upper hand, +and the pressure was relaxed. French then pushed forward, but the horses +were so utterly beaten that no effective pursuit was possible. + +During the two days that French had been held up by the Boer right wing +Hamilton had also been seriously engaged upon the left--so seriously +that at one time the action appeared to have gone against him. The fight +presented some distinctive features, which made it welcome to soldiers +who were weary of the invisible man with his smokeless gun upon the +eternal kopje. It is true that man, gun, and kopje were all present +upon this occasion, but in the endeavours to drive him off some new +developments took place, which formed for one brisk hour a reversion +to picturesque warfare. Perceiving a gap in the enemy's line, Hamilton +pushed up the famous Q battery--the guns which had plucked glory out of +disaster at Sanna's Post. For the second time in one campaign they were +exposed and in imminent danger of capture. A body of mounted Boers with +great dash and hardihood galloped down within close range and opened +fire. Instantly the 12th Lancers were let loose upon them. How they must +have longed for their big-boned long-striding English troop horses +as they strove to raise a gallop out of their spiritless overworked +Argentines! For once, however, the lance meant more than five pounds +dead weight and an encumbrance to the rider. The guns were saved, the +Boers fled, and a dozen were left upon the ground. But a cavalry charge +has to end in a re-formation, and that is the instant of danger if +any unbroken enemy remains within range. Now a sleet of bullets hissed +through their ranks as they retired, and the gallant Lord Airlie, as +modest and brave a soldier as ever drew sword, was struck through +the heart. 'Pray moderate your language!' was his last characteristic +remark, made to a battle-drunken sergeant. Two officers, seventeen men, +and thirty horses went down with their Colonel, the great majority only +slightly injured. In the meantime the increasing pressure upon his right +caused Broadwood to order a second charge, of the Life Guards this time, +to drive off the assailants. The appearance rather than the swords +of the Guards prevailed, and cavalry as cavalry had vindicated their +existence more than they had ever done during the campaign. The guns +were saved, the flank attack was rolled back, but one other danger had +still to be met, for the Heidelberg commando--a corps d'elite of the +Boers--had made its way outside Hamilton's flank and threatened to get +past him. With cool judgment the British General detached a battalion +and a section of a battery, which pushed the Boers back into a less +menacing position. The rest of Bruce Hamilton's Brigade were ordered to +advance upon the hills in front, and, aided by a heavy artillery fire, +they had succeeded, before the closing in of the winter night, in +getting possession of this first line of the enemy's defences. Night +fell upon an undecided fight, which, after swaying this way and that, +had finally inclined to the side of the British. The Sussex and the City +Imperial Volunteers were clinging to the enemy's left flank, while the +11th Division were holding them in front. All promised well for the +morrow. + +By order of Lord Roberts the Guards were sent round early on Tuesday, +the 12th, to support the flank attack of Bruce Hamilton's infantry. It +was afternoon before all was ready for the advance, and then the Sussex, +the London Volunteers, and the Derbyshires won a position upon the +ridge, followed later by the three regiments of Guards. But the ridge +was the edge of a considerable plateau, swept by Boer fire, and no +advance could be made over its bare expanse save at a considerable loss. +The infantry clung in a long fringe to the edge of the position, but for +two hours no guns could be brought up to their support, as the steepness +of the slope was insurmountable. It was all that the stormers could do +to hold their ground, as they were enfiladed by a Vickers-Maxim, and +exposed to showers of shrapnel as well as to an incessant rifle fire. +Never were guns so welcome as those of the 82nd battery, brought by +Major Connolly into the firing line. The enemy's riflemen were only a +thousand yards away, and the action of the artillery might have seemed +as foolhardy as that of Long at Colenso. Ten horses went down on the +instant, and a quarter of the gunners were hit; but the guns roared one +by one into action, and their shrapnel soon decided the day. Undoubtedly +it is with Connolly and his men that the honours lie. + +At four o'clock, as the sun sank towards the west, the tide of fight had +set in favour of the attack. Two more batteries had come up, every rifle +was thrown into the firing line, and the Boer reply was decreasing in +volume. The temptation to an assault was great, but even now it might +mean heavy loss of life, and Hamilton shrank from the sacrifice. In +the morning his judgment was justified, for Botha had abandoned the +position, and his army was in full retreat. The mounted men followed as +far as Elands River Station, which is twenty-five miles from Pretoria, +but the enemy was not overtaken, save by a small party of De Lisle's +Australians and Regular Mounted Infantry. This force, less than a +hundred in number, gained a kopje which overlooked a portion of the +Boer army. Had they been more numerous, the effect would have been +incalculable. As it was, the Australians fired every cartridge which +they possessed into the throng, and killed many horses and men. It would +bear examination why it was that only this small corps was present at so +vital a point, and why, if they could push the pursuit to such purpose, +others should not be able to do the same. Time was bringing some +curious revenges. Already Paardeberg had come upon Majuba Day. Buller's +victorious soldiers had taken Laing's Nek. Now, the Spruit at which the +retreating Boers were so mishandled by the Australians was that same +Bronkers Spruit at which, nineteen years before, a regiment had been +shot down. Many might have prophesied that the deed would be avenged; +but who could ever have guessed the men who would avenge it? + +Such was the battle of Diamond Hill, as it was called from the name of +the ridge which was opposite to Hamilton's attack. The prolonged two +days' struggle showed that there was still plenty of fight in the +burghers. Lord Roberts had not routed them, nor had he captured their +guns; but he had cleared the vicinity of the capital, he had inflicted a +loss upon them which was certainly as great as his own, and he had again +proved to them that it was vain for them to attempt to stand. A long +pause followed at Pretoria, broken by occasional small alarms and +excursions, which served no end save to keep the army from ennui. In +spite of occasional breaks in his line of communications, horses and +supplies were coming up rapidly, and, by the middle of July, Roberts +was ready for the field again. At the same time Hunter had come up from +Potchefstroom, and Hamilton had taken Heidelberg, and his force was +about to join hands with Buller at Standerton. Sporadic warfare broke +out here and there in the west, and in the course of it Snyman of +Mafeking had reappeared, with two guns, which were promptly taken from +him by the Canadian Mounted Rifles. On all sides it was felt that if +the redoubtable De Wet could be captured there was every hope that the +burghers might discontinue a struggle which was disagreeable to the +British and fatal to themselves. As a point of honour it was impossible +for Botha to give in while his ally held out. We will turn, therefore, +to this famous guerilla chief, and give some account of his exploits. To +understand them some description must be given of the general military +situation in the Free State. + +When Lord Roberts had swept past to the north he had brushed aside the +flower of the Orange Free State army, who occupied the considerable +quadrilateral which is formed by the north-east of that State. The +function of Rundle's 8th Division and of Brabant's Colonial Division was +to separate the sheep from the goats by preventing the fighting burghers +from coming south and disturbing those districts which had been settled. +For this purpose Rundle formed a long line which should serve as a +cordon. Moving up through Trommel and Clocolan, Ficksburg was occupied +on May 25th by the Colonial Division, while Rundle seized Senekal, forty +miles to the north-west. A small force of forty Yeomanry, who entered +the town some time in advance of the main body, was suddenly attacked +by the Boers, and the gallant Dalbiac, famous rider and sportsman, was +killed, with four of his men. He was a victim, as so many have been in +this campaign, to his own proud disregard of danger. + +The Boers were in full retreat, but now, as always, they were dangerous. +One cannot take them for granted, for the very moment of defeat is that +at which they are capable of some surprising effort. Rundle, following +them up from Senekal, found them in strong possession of the kopjes at +Biddulphsberg, and received a check in his endeavour to drive them off. +It was an action fought amid great grass fires, where the possible fate +of the wounded was horrible to contemplate. The 2nd Grenadiers, the +Scots Guards, the East Yorkshires, and the West Kents were all engaged, +with the 2nd and 79th Field Batteries and a force of Yeomanry. Our +losses incurred in the open from unseen rifles were thirty killed and +130 wounded, including Colonel Lloyd of the Grenadiers. Two days later +Rundle, from Senekal, joined hands with Brabant from Ficksburg, and +a defensive line was formed between those two places, which was held +unbroken for two months, when the operations ended in the capture of the +greater part of the force opposed to him. Clements's Brigade, consisting +of the 1st Royal Irish, the 2nd Bedfords, the 2nd Worcesters, and the +2nd Wiltshires, had come to strengthen Rundle, and altogether he may +have had as many as twelve thousand men under his orders. It was not +a large force with which to hold a mobile adversary at least eight +thousand strong, who might attack him at any point of his extended line. +So well, however, did he select his positions that every attempt of the +enemy, and there were many, ended in failure. Badly supplied with food, +he and his half-starved men held bravely to their task, and no soldiers +in all that great host deserve better of their country. + +At the end of May, then, the Colonial Division, Rundle's Division, and +Clements's Brigade held the Boers from Ficksburg on the Basuto border +to Senekal. This prevented them from coming south. But what was there to +prevent them from coming west, and falling upon the railway line? +There was the weak point of the British position. Lord Methuen had been +brought across from Boshof, and was available with six thousand men. +Colvile was on that side also, with the Highland Brigade. A few details +were scattered up and down the line, waiting to be gathered up by an +enterprising enemy. Kroonstad was held by a single militia battalion; +each separate force had to be nourished by convoys with weak escorts. +Never was there such a field for a mobile and competent guerilla leader. +And, as luck would have it, such a man was at hand, ready to take full +advantage of his opportunities. + + + +CHAPTER 27. THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION. + +Christian de Wet, the elder of two brothers of that name, was at this +time in the prime of life, a little over forty years of age. He was a +burly middle-sized bearded man, poorly educated, but endowed with much +energy and common-sense. His military experience dated back to Majuba +Hill, and he had a large share of that curious race hatred which +is intelligible in the case of the Transvaal, but inexplicable in a +Freestater who has received no injury from the British Empire. Some +weakness of his sight compels the use of tinted spectacles, and he had +now turned these, with a pair of particularly observant eyes behind +them, upon the scattered British forces and the long exposed line of +railway. + +De Wet's force was an offshoot from the army of Freestaters under De +Villiers, Olivier, and Prinsloo, which lay in the mountainous north-east +of the State. To him were committed five guns, fifteen hundred men, and +the best of the horses. Well armed, well mounted, and operating in +a country which consisted of rolling plains with occasional fortress +kopjes, his little force had everything in its favour. There were so +many tempting objects of attack lying before him that he must have had +some difficulty in knowing where to begin. The tinted spectacles were +turned first upon the isolated town of Lindley. + +Colvile with the Highland Brigade had come up from Ventersburg with +instructions to move onward to Heilbron, pacifying the country as he +passed. The country, however, refused to be pacified, and his march from +Ventersburg to Lindley was harassed by snipers every mile of the way. +Finding that De Wet and his men were close upon him, he did not linger +at Lindley, but passed on to his destination, his entire march of 126 +miles costing him sixty-three casualties, of which nine were fatal. +It was a difficult and dangerous march, especially for the handful of +Eastern Province Horse, upon whom fell all the mounted work. By evil +fortune a force of five hundred Yeomanry, the 18th battalion, including +the Duke of Cambridge's Own and the Irish companies, had been sent from +Kroonstad to join Colvile at Lindley. Colonel Spragge was in command. +On May 27th this body of horsemen reached their destination only to find +that Colvile had already abandoned it. They appear to have determined to +halt for a day in Lindley, and then follow Colvile to Heilbron. Within +a few hours of their entering the town they were fiercely attacked by De +Wet. + +Colonel Spragge seems to have acted for the best. Under a heavy fire he +caused his troopers to fall back upon his transport, which had been +left at a point a few miles out upon the Kroonstad Road, where three +defensible kopjes sheltered a valley in which the cattle and horses +could be herded. A stream ran through it. There were all the materials +there for a stand which would have brought glory to the British arms. +The men were of peculiarly fine quality, many of them from the public +schools and from the universities, and if any would fight to the death +these with their sporting spirit and their high sense of honour might +have been expected to do so. + +They had the stronger motive for holding out, as they had taken steps +to convey word of their difficulty to Colvile and to Methuen. The former +continued his march to Heilbron, and it is hard to blame him for doing +so, but Methuen on hearing the message, which was conveyed to him at +great personal peril by Corporal Hankey of the Yeomanry, pushed on +instantly with the utmost energy, though he arrived too late to prevent, +or even to repair, a disaster. It must be remembered that Colvile was +under orders to reach Heilbron on a certain date, that he was himself +fighting his way, and that the force which he was asked to relieve was +much more mobile than his own. His cavalry at that date consisted of 100 +men of the Eastern Province Horse. + +Colonel Spragge's men had held their own for the first three days +of their investment, during which they had been simply exposed to a +long-range rifle fire which inflicted no very serious loss upon them. +Their principal defence consisted of a stone kraal about twenty yards +square, which sheltered them from rifle bullets, but must obviously be a +perfect death-trap in the not improbable event of the Boers sending for +artillery. The spirit of the troopers was admirable. Several dashing +sorties were carried out under the leadership of Captain Humby and Lord +Longford. The latter was a particularly dashing business, ending in a +bayonet charge which cleared a neighbouring ridge. Early in the siege +the gallant Keith met his end. On the fourth day the Boers brought up +five guns. One would have thought that during so long a time as three +days it would have been possible for the officer in command to make such +preparations against this obvious possibility as were so successfully +taken at a later stage of the war by the handful who garrisoned +Ladybrand. Surely in this period, even without engineers, it would not +have been hard to construct such trenches as the Boers have again and +again opposed to our own artillery. But the preparations which were +made proved to be quite inadequate. One of the two smaller kopjes was +carried, and the garrison fled to the other. This also was compelled to +surrender, and finally the main kopje also hoisted the white flag. +No blame can rest upon the men, for their presence there at all is a +sufficient proof of their public spirit and their gallantry. But the +lessons of the war seem to have been imperfectly learned, especially +that very certain lesson that shell fire in a close formation is +insupportable, while in an open formation with a little cover it can +never compel surrender. The casualty lists (80 killed and wounded out +of a force of 470) show that the Yeomanry took considerable punishment +before surrendering, but do not permit us to call the defence desperate +or heroic. It is only fair to add that Colonel Spragge was acquitted +of all blame by a court of inquiry, which agreed, however, that the +surrender was premature, and attributed it to the unauthorised hoisting +of a white flag upon one of the detached kopjes. With regard to the +subsequent controversy as to whether General Colvile might have returned +to the relief of the Yeomanry, it is impossible to see how that General +could have acted in any other way than he did. + +Some explanation is needed of Lord Methuen's appearance upon the central +scene of warfare, his division having, when last described, been at +Boshof, not far from Kimberley, where early in April he fought the +successful action which led to the death of Villebois. Thence he +proceeded along the Vaal and then south to Kroonstad, arriving there on +May 28th. He had with him the 9th Brigade (Douglas's), which contained +the troops which had started with him for the relief of Kimberley six +months before. These were the Northumberland Fusiliers, Loyal North +Lancashires, Northamptons, and Yorkshire Light Infantry. With him also +were the Munsters, Lord Chesham's Yeomanry (five companies), with the +4th and 37th batteries, two howitzers and two pom-poms. His total force +was about 6000 men. On arriving at Kroonstad he was given the task +of relieving Heilbron, where Colvile, with the Highland Brigade, some +Colonial horse, Lovat's Scouts, two naval guns, and the 5th battery, +were short of food and ammunition. The more urgent message from the +Yeomen at Lindley, however, took him on a fruitless journey to that +town on June 1st. So vigorous was the pursuit of the Yeomanry that +the leading squadrons, consisting of South Notts Hussars and Sherwood +Rangers, actually cut into the Boer convoy and might have rescued the +prisoners had they been supported. As it was they were recalled, and +had to fight their way back to Lindley with some loss, including Colonel +Rolleston, the commander, who was badly wounded. A garrison was left +under Paget, and the rest of the force pursued its original mission +to Heilbron, arriving there on June 7th, when the Highlanders had been +reduced to quarter rations. 'The Salvation Army' was the nickname by +which they expressed their gratitude to the relieving force. + +A previous convoy sent to the same destination had less good fortune. +On June 1st fifty-five wagons started from the railway line to reach +Heilbron. The escort consisted of one hundred and sixty details +belonging to Highland regiments without any guns, Captain Corballis in +command. But the gentleman with the tinted glasses was waiting on the +way. 'I have twelve hundred men and five guns. Surrender at once!' +Such was the message which reached the escort, and in their defenceless +condition there was nothing for it but to comply. Thus one disaster +leads to another, for, had the Yeomanry held out at Lindley, De Wet +would not on June 4th have laid hands upon our wagons; and had he not +recruited his supplies from our wagons it is doubtful if he could have +made his attack upon Roodeval. This was the next point upon which he +turned his attention. + +Two miles beyond Roodeval station there is a well-marked kopje by the +railway line, with other hills some distance to the right and the left. +A militia regiment, the 4th Derbyshire, had been sent up to occupy this +post. There were rumours of Boers on the line, and Major Haig, who with +one thousand details of various regiments commanded at railhead, had +been attacked on June 6th but had beaten off his assailants. De Wet, +acting sometimes in company with, and sometimes independently of, his +lieutenant Nel, passed down the line looking fur some easier prey, +and on the night of June 7th came upon the militia regiment, which was +encamped in a position which could be completely commanded by artillery. +It is not true that they had neglected to occupy the kopje under which +they lay, for two companies had been posted upon it. But there seems to +have been no thought of imminent danger, and the regiment had pitched +its tents and gone very comfortably to sleep without a thought of the +gentleman in the tinted glasses. In the middle of the night he was upon +them with a hissing sleet of bullets. At the first dawn the guns opened +and the shells began to burst among them. It was a horrible ordeal for +raw troops. The men were miners and agricultural labourers, who had +never seen more bloodshed than a cut finger in their lives. They had +been four months in the country, but their life had been a picnic, as +the luxury of their baggage shows. Now in an instant the picnic was +ended, and in the grey cold dawn war was upon them--grim war with the +whine of bullets, the screams of pain, the crash of shell, the horrible +rending and riving of body and limb. In desperate straits, which would +have tried the oldest soldiers, the brave miners did well. They never +from the beginning had a chance save to show how gamely they could take +punishment, but that at least they did. Bullets were coming from all +sides at once and yet no enemy was visible. They lined one side of the +embankment, and they were shot in the back. They lined the other, and +were again shot in the back. Baird-Douglas, the Colonel, vowed to shoot +the man who should raise the white flag, and he fell dead himself before +he saw the hated emblem. But it had to come. A hundred and forty of the +men were down, many of them suffering from the horrible wounds which +shell inflicts. The place was a shambles. Then the flag went up and the +Boers at last became visible. Outnumbered, outgeneralled, and without +guns, there is no shadow of stain upon the good name of the one militia +regiment which was ever seriously engaged during the war. Their position +was hopeless from the first, and they came out of it with death, +mutilation, and honour. + +Two miles south of the Rhenoster kopje stands Roodeval station, in +which, on that June morning, there stood a train containing the mails +for the army, a supply of great-coats, and a truck full of enormous +shells. A number of details of various sorts, a hundred or more, had +alighted from the train, twenty of them Post-office volunteers, some +of the Pioneer Railway corps, a few Shropshires, and other waifs and +strays. To them in the early morning came the gentleman with the tinted +glasses, his hands still red with the blood of the Derbies. 'I have +fourteen hundred men and four guns. Surrender!' said the messenger. +But it is not in nature for a postman to give up his postbag without +a struggle. 'Never!' cried the valiant postmen. But shell after shell +battered the corrugated-iron buildings about their ears, and it was not +possible for them to answer the guns which were smashing the life out of +them. There was no help for it but to surrender. De Wet added samples of +the British volunteer and of the British regular to his bag of militia. +The station and train were burned down, the great-coats looted, the +big shells exploded, and the mails burned. The latter was the one +unsportsmanlike action which can up to that date be laid to De Wet's +charge. Forty thousand men to the north of him could forego their coats +and their food, but they yearned greatly for those home letters, +charred fragments of which are still blowing about the veld. [Footnote: +Fragments continually met the eye which must have afforded curious +reading for the victors. 'I hope you have killed all those Boers by +now,' was the beginning of one letter which I could not help observing.] + +For three days De Wet held the line, and during all that time he worked +his wicked will upon it. For miles and miles it was wrecked with most +scientific completeness. The Rhenoster bridge was destroyed. So, for the +second time, was the Roodeval bridge. The rails were blown upwards with +dynamite until they looked like an unfinished line to heaven. De Wet's +heavy hand was everywhere. Not a telegraph-post remained standing within +ten miles. His headquarters continued to be the kopje at Roodeval. + +On June 10th two British forces were converging upon the point of +danger. One was Methuen's, from Heilbron. The other was a small force +consisting of the Shropshires, the South Wales Borderers, and a battery +which had come south with Lord Kitchener. The energetic Chief of the +Staff was always sent by Lord Roberts to the point where a strong man +was needed, and it was seldom that he failed to justify his mission. +Lord Methuen, however, was the first to arrive, and at once attacked +De Wet, who moved swiftly away to the eastward. With a tendency to +exaggeration, which has been too common during the war, the affair was +described as a victory. It was really a strategic and almost bloodless +move upon the part of the Boers. It is not the business of guerillas +to fight pitched battles. Methuen pushed for the south, having been +informed that Kroonstad had been captured. Finding this to be untrue, he +turned again to the eastward in search of De Wet. + +That wily and indefatigable man was not long out of our ken. On June +14th he appeared once more at Rhenoster, where the construction trains, +under the famous Girouard, were working furiously at the repair of the +damage which he had already done. This time the guard was sufficient +to beat him off, and he vanished again to the eastward. He succeeded, +however, in doing some harm, and very nearly captured Lord Kitchener +himself. A permanent post had been established at Rhenoster under the +charge of Colonel Spens of the Shropshires, with his own regiment and +several guns. Smith-Dorrien, one of the youngest and most energetic +of the divisional commanders, had at the same time undertaken the +supervision and patrolling of the line. + +An attack had at this period been made by a commando of some hundred +Boers at the Sand River to the south of Kroonstad, where there is a +most important bridge. The attempt was frustrated by the Royal Lancaster +regiment and the Railway Pioneer regiment, helped by some mounted +infantry and Yeomanry. The fight was for a time a brisk one, and the +Pioneers, upon whom the brunt of it fell, behaved with great steadiness. +The skirmish is principally remarkable for the death of Major Seymour +of the Pioneers, a noble American, who gave his services and at last his +life for what, in the face of all slander and misrepresentation, he knew +to be the cause of justice and of liberty. + +It was hoped now, after all these precautions, that the last had been +seen of the gentleman with the tinted glasses, but on June 21st he was +back in his old haunts once more. Honing Spruit Station, about midway +between Kroonstad and Roodeval, was the scene of his new raid. On that +date his men appeared suddenly as a train waited in the station, and +ripped up the rails on either side of it. There were no guns at this +point, and the only available troops were three hundred of the prisoners +from Pretoria, armed with Martini-Henry rifles and obsolete ammunition. +A good man was in command, however--the same Colonel Bullock of the +Devons who had distinguished himself at Colenso--and every tattered, +half-starved wastrel was nerved by a recollection of the humiliations +which he had already endured. For seven hours they lay helpless under +the shell-fire, but their constancy was rewarded by the arrival of +Colonel Brookfield with 300 Yeomanry and four guns of the 17th R.F.A., +followed in the evening by a larger force from the south. The Boers +fled, but left some of their number behind them; while of the British, +Major Hobbs and four men were killed and nineteen wounded. This defence +of three hundred half-armed men against seven hundred Boer riflemen, +with three guns firing shell and shrapnel, was a very good performance. +The same body of burghers immediately afterwards attacked a post held by +Colonel Evans with two companies of the Shropshires and fifty Canadians. +They were again beaten back with loss, the Canadians under Inglis +especially distinguishing themselves by their desperate resistance in an +exposed position. + +All these attacks, irritating and destructive as they were, were not +able to hinder the general progress of the war. After the battle of +Diamond Hill the captured position was occupied by the mounted infantry, +while the rest of the forces returned to their camps round Pretoria, +there to await the much-needed remounts. At other parts of the seat +of war the British cordon was being drawn more tightly round the Boer +forces. Buller had come as far as Standerton, and Ian Hamilton, in the +last week of June, had occupied Heidelberg. A week afterwards the two +forces were able to join hands, and so to completely cut off the Free +State from the Transvaal armies. Hamilton in these operations had the +misfortune to break his collar-bone, and for a time the command of his +division passed to Hunter--the one man, perhaps, whom the army would +regard as an adequate successor. + +It was evident now to the British commanders that there would be no +peace and no safety for their communications while an undefeated army of +seven or eight thousand men, under such leaders as De Wet and Olivier, +was lurking amid the hills which flanked their railroad. A determined +effort was made, therefore, to clear up that corner of the country. +Having closed the only line of escape by the junction of Ian Hamilton +and of Buller, the attention of six separate bodies of troops was +concentrated upon the stalwart Freestaters. These were the divisions of +Rundle and of Brabant from the south, the brigade of Clements on their +extreme left, the garrison of Lindley under Paget, the garrison of +Heilbron under Macdonald, and, most formidable of all, a detachment +under Hunter which was moving from the north. A crisis was evidently +approaching. + +The nearest Free State town of importance still untaken was Bethlehem--a +singular name to connect with the operations of war. The country on the +south of it forbade an advance by Rundle or Brabant, but it was more +accessible from the west. The first operation of the British consisted, +therefore, in massing sufficient troops to be able to advance from +this side. This was done by effecting a junction between Clements from +Senekal, and Paget who commanded at Lindley, which was carried out upon +July 1st near the latter place. Clements encountered some opposition, +but besides his excellent infantry regiments, the Royal Irish, +Worcesters, Wiltshires, and Bedfords, he had with him the 2nd Brabant's +Horse, with yeomanry, mounted infantry, two 5-inch guns, and the 38th +R.F.A. Aided by a demonstration on the part of Grenfell and of Brabant, +he pushed his way through after three days of continual skirmish. + +On getting into touch with Clements, Paget sallied out from Lindley, +leaving the Buffs behind to garrison the town. He had with him +Brookfield's mounted brigade one thousand strong, eight guns, and two +fine battalions of infantry, the Munster Fusiliers and the Yorkshire +Light Infantry. On July 3rd he found near Leeuw Kop a considerable force +of Boers with three guns opposed to him, Clements being at that time +too far off upon the flank to assist him. Four guns of the 38th R.F.A. +(Major Oldfield) and two belonging to the City Volunteers came into +action. The Royal Artillery guns appear to have been exposed to a very +severe fire, and the losses were so heavy that for a time they could not +be served. The escort was inadequate, insufficiently advanced, and badly +handled, for the Boer riflemen were able, by creeping up a donga, to +get right into the 38th battery, and the gallant major, with Lieutenant +Belcher, was killed in the defence of the guns. Captain FitzGerald, the +only other officer present, was wounded in two places, and twenty men +were struck down, with nearly all the horses of one section. Captain +Marks, who was brigade-major of Colonel Brookfield's Yeomanry, with the +help of Lieutenant Keevil Davis and the 15th I.Y. came to the rescue of +the disorganised and almost annihilated section. At the same time the +C.I.V. guns were in imminent danger, but were energetically covered by +Captain Budworth, adjutant of the battery. Soon, however, the infantry, +Munster Fusiliers, and Yorkshire Light Infantry, which had been carrying +out a turning movement, came into action, and the position was +taken. The force moved onwards, and on July 6th they were in front of +Bethlehem. + +The place is surrounded by hills, and the enemy was found strongly +posted. Clements's force was now on the left and Paget's on the right. +From both sides an attempt was made to turn the Boer flanks, but they +were found to be very wide and strong. All day a long-range action was +kept up while Clements felt his way in the hope of coming upon some weak +spot in the position, but in the evening a direct attack was made by +Paget's two infantry regiments upon the right, which gave the British +a footing on the Boer position. The Munster Fusiliers and the Yorkshire +Light Infantry lost forty killed and wounded, including four officers, +in this gallant affair, the heavier loss and the greater honour going to +the men of Munster. + +The centre of the position was still held, and on the morning of July +7th Clements gave instructions to the colonel of the Royal Irish to +storm it if the occasion should seem favourable. Such an order to such +a regiment means that the occasion will seem favourable. Up they went in +three extended lines, dropping forty or fifty on the way, but arriving +breathless and enthusiastic upon the crest of the ridge. Below them, +upon the further side, lay the village of Bethlehem. On the slopes +beyond hundreds of horsemen were retreating, and a gun was being +hurriedly dragged into the town. For a moment it seemed as if nothing +had been left as a trophy, but suddenly a keen-eyed sergeant raised a +cheer, which was taken up again and again until it resounded over the +veld. Under the crest, lying on its side with a broken wheel, was a +gun--one of the 15-pounders of Stormberg which it was a point of honour +to regain once more. Many a time had the gunners been friends in need +to the infantry. Now it was the turn of the infantry to do something in +exchange. That evening Clements had occupied Bethlehem, and one more of +their towns had passed out of the hands of the Freestaters. + +A word now as to that force under General Hunter which was closing in +from the north. The gallant and energetic Hamilton, lean, aquiline, and +tireless, had, as already stated, broken his collar-bone at Heidelberg, +and it was as his lieutenant that Hunter was leading these troops out +of the Transvaal into the Orange River Colony. Most of his infantry was +left behind at Heidelberg, but he took with him Broadwood's cavalry +(two brigades) and Bruce Hamilton's 21st infantry brigade, with Ridley's +mounted infantry, some seven thousand men in all. On the 2nd of July +this force reached Frankfort in the north of the Free State without +resistance, and on July 3rd they were joined there by Macdonald's force +from Heilbron, so that Hunter found himself with over eleven thousand +men under his command. Here was an instrument with which surely the coup +de grace could be given to the dying State. Passing south, still without +meeting serious resistance, Hunter occupied Reitz, and finally sent on +Broadwood's cavalry to Bethlehem, where on July 8th they joined Paget +and Clements. + +The net was now in position, and about to be drawn tight, but at this +last moment the biggest fish of all dashed furiously out from it. +Leaving the main Free State force in a hopeless position behind him, De +Wet, with fifteen hundred well-mounted men and five guns, broke through +Slabbert's Nek between Bethlehem and Ficksburg, and made swiftly for the +north-west, closely followed by Paget's and Broadwood's cavalry. It was +on July 16th that he made his dash for freedom. On the 19th Little, with +the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, had come into touch with him near Lindley. De +Wet shook himself clear, and with splendid audacity cut the railway once +more to the north of Honing Spruit, gathering up a train as he passed, +and taking two hundred details prisoners. On July 22nd De Wet was at +Vredefort, still closely followed by Broadwood, Ridley, and Little, who +gleaned his wagons and his stragglers. Thence he threw himself into the +hilly country some miles to the south of the Vaal River, where he +lurked for a week or more while Lord Kitchener came south to direct the +operations which would, as it was hoped, lead to a surrender. + +Leaving the indomitable guerilla in his hiding-place, the narrative must +return to that drawing of the net which still continued in spite of the +escape of this one important fish. On all sides the British forces had +drawn closer, and they were both more numerous and more formidable in +quality. It was evident now that by a rapid advance from Bethlehem in +the direction of the Basuto border all Boers to the north of Ficksburg +would be hemmed in. On July 22nd the columns were moving. On that +date Paget moved out of Bethlehem, and Rundle took a step forward from +Ficksburg. Bruce Hamilton had already, at the cost of twenty Cameron +Highlanders, got a grip upon a bastion of that rocky country in which +the enemy lurked. On the 23rd Hunter's force was held by the Boers at +the strong pass of Retief's Nek, but on the 24th they were compelled +to abandon it, as the capture of Slabbert's Nek by Clements threatened +their rear. This latter pass was fortified most elaborately. It was +attacked upon the 23rd by Brabant's Horse and the Royal Irish without +success. Later in the day two companies of the Wiltshire Regiment were +also brought to a standstill, but retained a position until nightfall +within stone-throw of the Boer lines, though a single company had lost +17 killed and wounded. Part of the Royal Irish remained also close +to the enemy's trenches. Under cover of darkness, Clements sent four +companies of the Royal Irish and two of the Wiltshires under Colonel +Guinness to make a flanking movement along the crest of the heights. +These six companies completely surprised the enemy, and caused them to +hurriedly evacuate the position. Their night march was performed under +great difficulties, the men crawling on hands and knees along a rocky +path with a drop of 400 feet upon one side. But their exertions were +greatly rewarded. Upon the success of their turning movement depended +the fall of Slabbert's Nek. Retief's Nek was untenable if we held +Slabbert's Nek, and if both were in our hands the retreat of Prinsloo +was cut off. + +At every opening of the hills the British guns were thundering, and the +heads of British columns were appearing on every height. The Highland +Brigade had fairly established themselves over the Boer position, though +not without hard fighting, in which a hundred men of the Highland Light +Infantry had been killed and wounded. The Seaforths and the Sussex had +also gripped the positions in front of them, and taken some punishment +in doing so. The outworks of the great mountain fortress were all taken, +and on July 26th the British columns were converging on Fouriesburg, +while Naauwpoort on the line of retreat was held by Macdonald. It was +only a matter of time now with the Boers. + +On the 28th Clements was still advancing, and contracting still further +the space which was occupied by our stubborn foe. He found himself faced +by the stiff position of Slaapkrantz, and a hot little action was needed +before the Boers could be dislodged. The fighting fell upon Brabant's +Horse, the Royal Irish, and the Wiltshires. Three companies of the +latter seized a farm upon the enemy's left, but lost ten men in doing +so, while their gallant colonel, Carter, was severely wounded in two +places. The Wiltshires, who were excellently handled by Captain Bolton, +held on to the farm and were reinforced there by a handful of the Scots +Guards. In the night the position was abandoned by the Boers, and +the advance swept onwards. On all sides the pressure was becoming +unendurable. The burghers in the valley below could see all day the +twinkle of British heliographs from every hill, while at night the +constant flash of signals told of the sleepless vigilance which hemmed +them in. Upon July 29th, Prinsloo sent in a request for an armistice, +which was refused. Later in the day he despatched a messenger with +the white flag to Hunter, with an announcement of his unconditional +surrender. + +On July 30th the motley army which had held the British off so long +emerged from among the mountains. But it soon became evident that in +speaking for all Prinsloo had gone beyond his powers. Discipline was low +and individualism high in the Boer army. Every man might repudiate the +decision of his commandant, as every man might repudiate the white flag +of his comrade. On the first day no more than eleven hundred men of the +Ficksburg and Ladybrand commandos, with fifteen hundred horses and two +guns, were surrendered. Next day seven hundred and fifty more men +came in with eight hundred horses, and by August 6th the total of the +prisoners had mounted to four thousand one hundred and fifty with three +guns, two of which were our own. But Olivier, with fifteen hundred men +and several guns, broke away from the captured force and escaped through +the hills. Of this incident General Hunter, an honourable soldier, +remarks in his official report: 'I regard it as a dishonourable +breach of faith upon the part of General Olivier, for which I hold him +personally responsible. He admitted that he knew that General Prinsloo +had included him in the unconditional surrender.' It is strange that, +on Olivier's capture shortly afterwards, he was not court-martialled +for this breach of the rules of war, but that good-natured giant, the +Empire, is quick--too quick, perhaps--to let byegones be byegones. On +August 4th Harrismith surrendered to Macdonald, and thus was secured +the opening of the Van Reenen's Pass and the end of the Natal system +of railways. This was of the very first importance, as the utmost +difficulty had been found in supplying so large a body of troops so far +from the Cape base. In a day the base was shifted to Durban, and the +distance shortened by two-thirds, while the army came to be on the +railway instead of a hundred miles from it. This great success assured +Lord Roberts's communications from serious attack, and was of the utmost +importance in enabling him to consolidate his position at Pretoria. + + + +CHAPTER 28. THE HALT AT PRETORIA. + +Lord Roberts had now been six weeks in the capital, and British troops +had overrun the greater part of the south and west of the Transvaal, +but in spite of this there was continued Boer resistance, which flared +suddenly up in places which had been nominally pacified and disarmed. +It was found, as has often been shown in history, that it is easier +to defeat a republican army than to conquer it. From Klerksdorp, from +Ventersdorp, from Rustenburg, came news of risings against the newly +imposed British authority. The concealed Mauser and the bandolier were +dug up once more from the trampled corner of the cattle kraal, and the +farmer was a warrior once again. Vague news of the exploits of De Wet +stimulated the fighting burghers and shamed those who had submitted. A +letter was intercepted from the guerilla chief to Cronje's son, who had +surrendered near Rustenburg. De Wet stated that he had gained two great +victories and had fifteen hundred captured rifles with which to replace +those which the burghers had given up. Not only were the outlying +districts in a state of revolt, but even round Pretoria the Boers were +inclined to take the offensive, while both that town and Johannesburg +were filled with malcontents who were ready to fly to their arms once +more. + +Already at the end of June there were signs that the Boers realised +how helpless Lord Roberts was until his remounts should arrive. The +mosquitoes buzzed round the crippled lion. On June 29th there was an +attack upon Springs near Johannesburg, which was easily beaten off by +the Canadians. Early in July some of the cavalry and mounted infantry +patrols were snapped up in the neighbourhood of the capital. Lord +Roberts gave orders accordingly that Hutton and Mahon should sweep the +Boers back upon his right, and push them as far as Bronkhorst Spruit. +This was done on July 6th and 7th, the British advance meeting with +considerable resistance from artillery as well as rifles. By this +movement the pressure upon the right was relieved, which might have +created a dangerous unrest in Johannesburg, and it was done at the +moderate cost of thirty-four killed and wounded, half of whom belonged +to the Imperial Light Horse. This famous corps, which had come across +with Mahon from the relief of Mafeking, had, a few days before, ridden +with mixed feelings through the streets of Johannesburg and past, in +many instances, the deserted houses which had once been their homes. +Many weary months were to pass before the survivors might occupy them. +On July 9th the Boers again attacked, but were again pushed back to the +eastward. + +It is probable that all these demonstrations of the enemy upon the right +of Lord Roberts's extended position were really feints in order to cover +the far-reaching plans which Botha had in his mind. The disposition of +the Boer forces at this time appears to have been as follows: Botha with +his army occupied a position along Delagoa railway line, further east +than Diamond Hill, whence he detached the bodies which attacked Hutton +upon the extreme right of the British position to the south-east of +Pretoria. To the north of Pretoria a second force was acting under +Grobler, while a third under De la Rey had been despatched secretly +across to the left wing of the British, north-west of Pretoria. While +Botha engaged the attention of Lord Roberts by energetic demonstrations +on his right, Grobler and De la Rey were to make a sudden attack upon +his centre and his left, each point being twelve or fifteen miles +from the other. It was well devised and very well carried out; but the +inherent defect of it was that, when subdivided in this way, the Boer +force was no longer strong enough to gain more than a mere success of +outposts. + +De la Rey's attack was delivered at break of day on July 11th at +Uitval's Nek, a post some eighteen miles west of the capital. This +position could not be said to be part of Lord Roberts's line, but rather +to be a link to connect his army with Rustenburg. It was weakly held by +three companies of the Lincolns with two others in support, one squadron +of the Scots Greys, and two guns of O battery R.H.A. The attack came +with the first grey light of dawn, and for many hours the small garrison +bore up against a deadly fire, waiting for the help which never came. +All day they held their assailants at bay, and it was not until evening +that their ammunition ran short and they were forced to surrender. +Nothing could have been better than the behaviour of the men, both +infantry, cavalry, and gunners, but their position was a hopeless one. +The casualties amounted to eighty killed and wounded. Nearly two hundred +were made prisoners and the two guns were taken. + +On the same day that De la Rey made his coup at Uitval's Nek, Grobler +had shown his presence on the north side of the town by treating very +roughly a couple of squadrons of the 7th Dragoon Guards which had +attacked him. By the help of a section of the ubiquitous O battery and +of the 14th Hussars, Colonel Lowe was able to disengage his cavalry from +the trap into which they had fallen, but it was at the cost of between +thirty and forty officers and men killed, wounded, or taken. The old +'Black Horse' sustained their historical reputation, and fought their +way bravely out of an almost desperate situation, where they were +exposed to the fire of a thousand riflemen and four guns. + +On this same day of skirmishes, July 11th, the Gordons had seen some hot +work twenty miles or so to the south of Uitval's Nek. Orders had been +given to the 19th Brigade (Smith-Dorrien's) to proceed to Krugersdorp, +and thence to make their way north. The Scottish Yeomanry and a section +of the 78th R.F.A. accompanied them. The idea seems to have been that +they would be able to drive north any Boers in that district, who would +then find the garrison of Uitval's Nek at their rear. The advance was +checked, however, at a place called Dolverkrantz, which was strongly +held by Boer riflemen. The two guns were insufficiently protected, and +the enemy got within short range of them, killing or wounding many of +the gunners. The lieutenant in charge, Mr. A.J. Turner, the famous Essex +cricketer, worked the gun with his own hands until he also fell wounded +in three places. The situation was now very serious, and became more +so when news was flashed of the disaster at Uitval's Nek, and they were +ordered to retire. They could not retire and abandon the guns, yet the +fire was so hot that it was impossible to remove them. Gallant attempts +were made by volunteers from the Gordons--Captain Younger and other +brave men throwing away their lives in the vain effort to reach and to +limber up the guns. At last, under the cover of night, the teams were +harnessed and the two field-pieces successfully removed, while the Boers +who rushed in to seize them were scattered by a volley. The losses in +the action were thirty-six and the gain nothing. Decidedly July 11th was +not a lucky day for the British arms. + +It was well known to Botha that every train from the south was bringing +horses for Lord Roberts's army, and that it had become increasingly +difficult for De Wet and his men to hinder their arrival. The last horse +must win, and the Empire had the world on which to draw. Any movement +which the Boers would make must be made at once, for already both the +cavalry and the mounted infantry were rapidly coming back to their full +strength once more. This consideration must have urged Botha to deliver +an attack on July 16th, which had some success at first, but was +afterwards beaten off with heavy loss to the enemy. The fighting fell +principally upon Pole-Carew and Hutton, the corps chiefly engaged being +the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the New Zealanders, the Shropshires, and the +Canadian Mounted Infantry. The enemy tried repeatedly to assault the +position, but were beaten back each time with a loss of nearly a hundred +killed and wounded. The British loss was about sixty, and included two +gallant young Canadian officers, Borden and Birch, the former being the +only son of the minister of militia. So ended the last attempt made by +Botha upon the British positions round Pretoria. The end of the war +was not yet, but already its futility was abundantly evident. This had +become more apparent since the junction of Hamilton and of Buller had +cut off the Transvaal army from that of the Free State. Unable to send +their prisoners away, and also unable to feed them, the Freestaters were +compelled to deliver up in Natal the prisoners whom they had taken +at Lindley and Roodeval. These men, a ragged and starving battalion, +emerged at Ladysmith, having made their way through Van Reenen's Pass. +It is a singular fact that no parole appears on these and similar +occasions to have been exacted by the Boers. + +Lord Roberts, having remounted a large part of his cavalry, was ready +now to advance eastward and give Botha battle. The first town of any +consequence along the Delagoa Railway is Middelburg, some seventy miles +from the capital. This became the British objective, and the forces of +Mahon and Hamilton on the north, of Pole-Carew in the centre, and of +French and Hutton to the south, all converged upon it. There was no +serious resistance, though the weather was abominable, and on July 27th +the town was in the hands of the invaders. From that date until the +final advance to the eastward French held this advanced post, while +Pole-Carew guarded the railway line. Rumours of trouble in the west had +convinced Roberts that it was not yet time to push his advantage to the +east, and he recalled Ian Hamilton's force to act for a time upon +the other side of the seat of the war. This excellent little army, +consisting of Mahon's and Pilcher's mounted infantry, M battery R.H.A., +the Elswick battery, two 5-inch and two 4.7 guns, with the Berkshires, +the Border Regiment, the Argyle and Sutherlands, and the Scottish +Borderers, put in as much hard work in marching and in fighting as any +body of troops in the whole campaign. + +The renewal of the war in the west had begun some weeks before, but was +much accelerated by the transference of De la Rey and his burghers to +that side. There is no district in the Transvaal which is better worth +fighting for, for it is a fair country side, studded with farmhouses and +green with orange-groves, with many clear streams running through it. +The first sign of activity appears to have been on July 7th, when a +commando with guns appeared upon the hills above Rustenburg. Hanbury +Tracy, commandant of Rustenburg, was suddenly confronted with a summons +to surrender. He had only 120 men and one gun, but he showed a bold +front. Colonel Houldsworth, at the first whisper of danger, had started +from Zeerust with a small force of Australian bushmen, and arrived at +Rustenburg in time to drive the enemy away in a very spirited action. On +the evening of July 8th Baden-Powell took over the command, the garrison +being reinforced by Plumer's command. + +The Boer commando was still in existence, however, and it was reinforced +and reinvigorated by De la Rey's success at Uitval's Nek. On July 18th +they began to close in upon Rustenburg again, and a small skirmish took +place between them and the Australians. Methuen's division, which had +been doing very arduous service in the north of the Free State during +the last six weeks, now received orders to proceed into the Transvaal +and to pass northwards through the disturbed districts en route for +Rustenburg, which appeared to be the storm centre. The division was +transported by train from Kroonstad to Krugersdorp, and advanced on the +evening of July 18th upon its mission, through a bare and fire-blackened +country. On the 19th Lord Methuen manoeuvred the Boers out of a strong +position, with little loss to either side. On the 21st he forced his +way through Olifant's Nek, in the Magaliesberg range, and so established +communication with Baden-Powell, whose valiant bushmen, under Colonel +Airey, had held their own in a severe conflict near Magato Pass, in +which they lost six killed, nineteen wounded, and nearly two hundred +horses. The fortunate arrival of Captain FitzClarence with the +Protectorate Regiment helped on this occasion to avert a disaster. The +force, only 300 strong, without guns, had walked into an ugly ambuscade, +and only the tenacity and resource of the men enabled them ever to +extricate themselves. + +Although Methuen came within reach of Rustenburg, he did not actually +join hands with Baden-Powell. No doubt he saw and heard enough to +convince him that that astute soldier was very well able to take care of +himself. Learning of the existence of a Boer force in his rear, +Methuen turned, and on July 29th he was back at Frederickstad on the +Potchefstroom to Krugersdorp railway. The sudden change in his plans +was caused doubtless by the desire to head off De Wet in case he should +cross the Vaal River. Lord Roberts was still anxious to clear the +neighbourhood of Rustenburg entirely of the enemy; and he therefore, +since Methuen was needed to complete the cordon round De Wet, recalled +Hamilton's force from the east and despatched it, as already described, +to the west of Pretoria. + +Before going into the details of the great De Wet hunt, in which +Methuen's force was to be engaged, I shall follow Hamilton's division +across, and give some account of their services. On August 1st he set +out from Pretoria for Rustenburg. On that day and on the next he had +brisk skirmishes which brought him successfully through the Magaliesberg +range with a loss of forty wounded, mostly of the Berkshires. On the 5th +of August he had made his way to Rustenburg and drove off the investing +force. A smaller siege had been going on to westward, where at Elands +River another Mafeking man, Colonel Hore, had been held up by the +burghers. For some days it was feared, and even officially announced, +that the garrison had surrendered. It was known that an attempt by +Carrington to relieve the place on August 5th had been beaten back, and +that the state of the country appeared so threatening that he had been +compelled, or had imagined himself to be compelled, to retreat as far +as Mafeking, evacuating Zeerust and Otto's Hoop, abandoning the +considerable stores which were collected at those places. In spite of +all these sinister indications the garrison was still holding its own, +and on August 16th it was relieved by Lord Kitchener. + +This stand at Brakfontein on the Elands River appears to have been one +of the very finest deeds of arms of the war. The Australians have been +so split up during the campaign, that though their valour and efficiency +were universally recognised, they had no single exploit which they could +call their own. But now they can point to Elands River as proudly as the +Canadians can to Paardeberg. They were 500 in number, Victorians, New +South Welshmen, and Queenslanders, the latter the larger unit, with a +corps of Rhodesians. Under Hore were Major Hopper of the Rhodesians, and +Major Toubridge of the Queenslanders. Two thousand five hundred Boers +surrounded them, and most favourable terms of surrender were offered and +scouted. Six guns were trained upon them, and during 11 days 1800 shells +fell within their lines. The river was half a mile off, and every drop +of water for man or beast had to come from there. Nearly all their +horses and 75 of the men were killed or wounded. With extraordinary +energy and ingenuity the little band dug shelters which are said to +have exceeded in depth and efficiency any which the Boers have devised. +Neither the repulse of Carrington, nor the jamming of their only gun, +nor the death of the gallant Annett, was sufficient to dishearten them. +They were sworn to die before the white flag should wave above them. And +so fortune yielded, as fortune will when brave men set their teeth, and +Broadwood's troopers, filled with wonder and admiration, rode into the +lines of the reduced and emaciated but indomitable garrison. When the +ballad-makers of Australia seek for a subject, let them turn to Elands +River, for there was no finer resistance in the war. They will not +grudge a place in their record to the 130 gallant Rhodesians who shared +with them the honours and the dangers of the exploit. + +On August 7th Ian Hamilton abandoned Rustenburg, taking Baden-Powell and +his men with him. It was obviously unwise to scatter the British forces +too widely by attempting to garrison every single town. For the instant +the whole interest of the war centred upon De Wet and his dash into the +Transvaal. One or two minor events, however, which cannot be fitted into +any continuous narrative may be here introduced. + +One of these was the action at Faber's Put, by which Sir Charles Warren +crushed the rebellion in Griqualand. In that sparsely inhabited country +of vast distances it was a most difficult task to bring the revolt to +a decisive ending. This Sir Charles Warren, with his special local +knowledge and interest, was able to do, and the success is doubly +welcome as bringing additional honour to a man who, whatever view one +may take of his action at Spion Kop, has grown grey in the service of +the Empire. With a column consisting mainly of colonials and of yeomanry +he had followed the rebels up to a point within twelve miles of Douglas. +Here at the end of May they turned upon him and delivered a fierce night +attack, so sudden and so strongly pressed that much credit is due both +to General and to troops for having repelled it. The camp was attacked +on all sides in the early dawn. The greater part of the horses were +stampeded by the firing, and the enemy's riflemen were found to be at +very close quarters. For an hour the action was warm, but at the end +of that time the Boers fled, leaving a number of dead behind them. The +troops engaged in this very creditable action, which might have tried +the steadiness of veterans, were four hundred of the Duke of Edinburgh's +volunteers, some of Paget's horse and of the 8th Regiment Imperial +Yeomanry, four Canadian guns, and twenty-five of Warren's Scouts. Their +losses were eighteen killed and thirty wounded. Colonel Spence, of the +volunteers, died at the head of his regiment. A few days before, on May +27th, Colonel Adye had won a small engagement at Kheis, some distance +to the westward, and the effect of the two actions was to put an end +to open resistance. On June 20th De Villiers, the Boer leader, finally +surrendered to Sir Charles Warren, handing over two hundred and twenty +men with stores, rifles, and ammunition. The last sparks had for the +time been stamped out in the colony. + +There remain to be mentioned those attacks upon trains and upon the +railway which had spread from the Free State to the Transvaal. On July +19th a train was wrecked on the way from Potchefstroom to Krugersdorp +without serious injury to the passengers. On July 31st, however, the +same thing occurred with more murderous effect, the train running at +full speed off the metals. Thirteen of the Shropshires were killed and +thirty-seven injured in this deplorable affair, which cost us more +than many an important engagement. On August 2nd a train coming up from +Bloemfontein was derailed by Sarel Theron and his gang some miles south +of Kroonstad. Thirty-five trucks of stores were burned, and six of the +passengers (unarmed convalescent soldiers) were killed or wounded. A +body of mounted infantry followed up the Boers, who numbered eighty, and +succeeded in killing and wounding several of them. + +On July 21st the Boers made a determined attack upon the railhead at +a point thirteen miles east of Heidelberg, where over a hundred Royal +Engineers were engaged upon a bridge. They were protected by three +hundred Dublin Fusiliers under Major English. For some hours the little +party was hard pressed by the burghers, who had two field-pieces and a +pom-pom. They could make no impression, however, upon the steady +Irish infantry, and after some hours the arrival of General Hart with +reinforcements scattered the assailants, who succeeded in getting their +guns away in safety. + +At the beginning of August it must be confessed that the general +situation in the Transvaal was not reassuring. Springs near Johannesburg +had in some inexplicable way, without fighting, fallen into the hands +of the enemy. Klerksdorp, an important place in the south-west, had also +been reoccupied, and a handful of men who garrisoned it had been made +prisoners without resistance. Rustenburg was about to be abandoned, and +the British were known to be falling back from Zeerust and Otto's Hoop, +concentrating upon Mafeking. The sequel proved however, that there was +no cause for uneasiness in all this. Lord Roberts was concentrating his +strength upon those objects which were vital, and letting the others +drift for a time. At present the two obviously important things were +to hunt down De Wet and to scatter the main Boer army under Botha. The +latter enterprise must wait upon the former, so for a fortnight all +operations were in abeyance while the flying columns of the British +endeavoured to run down their extremely active and energetic antagonist. + +At the end of July De Wet had taken refuge in some exceedingly difficult +country near Reitzburg, seven miles south of the Vaal River. The +operations were proceeding vigorously at that time against the main army +at Fouriesberg, and sufficient troops could not be spared to attack him, +but he was closely observed by Kitchener and Broadwood with a force of +cavalry and mounted infantry. With the surrender of Prinsloo a large +army was disengaged, and it was obvious that if De Wet remained where he +was he must soon be surrounded. On the other hand, there was no place of +refuge to the south of him. With great audacity he determined to make +a dash for the Transvaal, in the hope of joining hands with De la Rey's +force, or else of making his way across the north of Pretoria, and +so reaching Botha's army. President Steyn went with him, and a most +singular experience it must have been for him to be harried like a mad +dog through the country in which he had once been an honoured guest. De +Wet's force was exceedingly mobile, each man having a led horse, and the +ammunition being carried in light Cape carts. + +In the first week of August the British began to thicken round his +lurking-place, and De Wet knew that it was time for him to go. He made +a great show of fortifying a position, but it was only a ruse to deceive +those who watched him. Travelling as lightly as possible, he made a dash +on August 7th at the drift which bears his own name, and so won his +way across the Vaal River, Kitchener thundering at his heels with +his cavalry and mounted infantry. Methuen's force was at that time at +Potchefstroom, and instant orders had been sent to him to block the +drifts upon the northern side. It was found as he approached the river +that the vanguard of the enemy was already across and that it was +holding the spurs of the hills which would cover the crossing of their +comrades. By the dash of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the exertions of +the artillery ridge after ridge was carried, but before evening De Wet +with supreme skill had got his convoy across, and had broken away, first +to the eastward and then to the north. On the 9th Methuen was in touch +with him again, and the two savage little armies, Methuen worrying at +the haunch, and De Wet snapping back over his shoulder, swept northward +over the huge plains. Wherever there was ridge or kopje the Boer +riflemen staved off the eager pursuers. Where the ground lay flat and +clear the British guns thundered onwards and fired into the lines of +wagons. Mile after mile the running fight was sustained, but the other +British columns, Broadwood's men and Kitchener's men, had for some +reason not come up. Methuen alone was numerically inferior to the men he +was chasing, but he held on with admirable energy and spirit. The Boers +were hustled off the kopjes from which they tried to cover their rear. +Twenty men of the Yorkshire Yeomanry carried one hill with the bayonet, +though only twelve of them were left to reach the top. + +De Wet trekked onwards during the night of the 9th, shedding wagons and +stores as he went. He was able to replace some of his exhausted beasts +from the farmhouses which he passed. Methuen on the morning of the +10th struck away to the west, sending messages back to Broadwood and +Kitchener in the rear that they should bear to the east, and so nurse +the Boer column between them. At the same time he sent on a messenger, +who unfortunately never arrived, to warn Smith-Dorrien at Bank Station +to throw himself across De Wet's path. On the 11th it was realised +that De Wet had succeeded, in spite of great exertions upon the part of +Smith-Dorrien's infantry, in crossing the railway line, and that he had +left all his pursuers to the south of him. But across his front lay +the Magaliesberg range. There are only three passes, the Magato Pass, +Olifant's Nek, and Commando Nek. It was understood that all three were +held by British troops. It was obvious, therefore, that if Methuen could +advance in such a way as to cut De Wet off from slipping through to the +west he would be unable to get away. Broadwood and Kitchener would be +behind him, and Pretoria, with the main British army, to the east. + +Methuen continued to act with great energy and judgment. At three A.M. +on the 12th be started from Fredericstadt, and by 5 P.M. on Tuesday he +had done eighty miles in sixty hours. The force which accompanied him +was all mounted, 1200 of the Colonial Division (1st Brabant's, Cape +Mounted Rifles, Kaffrarian Rifles, and Border Horse), and the Yeomanry +with ten guns. Douglas with the infantry was to follow behind, and these +brave fellows covered sixty-six miles in seventy-six hours in their +eagerness to be in time. No men could have made greater efforts than +did those of Methuen, for there was not one who did not appreciate the +importance of the issue and long to come to close quarters with the wily +leader who had baffled us so long. + +On the 12th Methuen's van again overtook De Wet's rear, and the old game +of rearguard riflemen on one side, and a pushing artillery on the other, +was once more resumed. All day the Boers streamed over the veld with +the guns and the horsemen at their heels. A shot from the 78th battery +struck one of De Wet's guns, which was abandoned and captured. Many +stores were taken and much more, with the wagons which contained +them, burned by the Boers. Fighting incessantly, both armies traversed +thirty-five miles of ground that day. + +It was fully understood that Olifant's Nek was held by the British, so +Methuen felt that if he could block the Magato Pass all would be well. +He therefore left De Wet's direct track, knowing that other British +forces were behind him, and he continued his swift advance until he +had reached the desired position. It really appeared that at last the +elusive raider was in a corner. But, alas for fallen hopes, and alas for +the wasted efforts of gallant men! Olifant's Nek had been abandoned and +De Wet had passed safely through it into the plains beyond, where De +la Rey's force was still in possession. In vain Methuen's weary column +forced the Magato Pass and descended into Rustenburg. The enemy was in a +safe country once more. Whose the fault, or whether there was a fault at +all, it is for the future to determine. At least unalloyed praise can +be given to the Boer leader for the admirable way in which he had +extricated himself from so many dangers. On the 17th., moving along +the northern side of the mountains, he appeared at Commando Nek on the +Little Crocodile River, where he summoned Baden-Powell to surrender, and +received some chaff in reply from that light-hearted commander. Then, +swinging to the eastward, he endeavoured to cross to the north of +Pretoria. On the 19th he was heard of at Hebron. Baden-Powell and Paget +had, however, already barred this path, and De Wet, having sent Steyn on +with a small escort, turned back to the Free State. On the 22nd it was +reported that, with only a handful of his followers, he had crossed +the Magaliesberg range by a bridlepath and was riding southwards. Lord +Roberts was at last free to turn his undivided attention upon Botha. + +Two Boer plots had been discovered during the first half of August, +the one in Pretoria and the other in Johannesburg, each having for its +object a rising against the British in the town. Of these the former, +which was the more serious, involving as it did the kidnapping of Lord +Roberts, was broken up by the arrest of the deviser, Hans Cordua, +a German lieutenant in the Transvaal Artillery. On its merits it is +unlikely that the crime would have been met by the extreme penalty, +especially as it was a question whether the agent provocateur had +not played a part. But the repeated breaches of parole, by which our +prisoners of one day were in the field against us on the next, called +imperatively for an example, and it was probably rather for his broken +faith than for his hare-brained scheme that Cordua died. At the +same time it is impossible not to feel sorrow for this idealist of +twenty-three who died for a cause which was not his own. He was shot in +the garden of Pretoria Gaol upon August 24th. A fresh and more stringent +proclamation from Lord Roberts showed that the British Commander was +losing his patience in the face of the wholesale return of paroled +men to the field, and announced that such perfidy would in future be +severely punished. It was notorious that the same men had been taken and +released more than once. One man killed in action was found to have nine +signed passes in his pocket. It was against such abuses that the extra +severity of the British was aimed. + + + +CHAPTER 29. THE ADVANCE TO KOMATIPOORT. + +The time had now come for the great combined movement which was to sweep +the main Boer army off the line of the Delagoa railway, cut its source +of supplies, and follow it into that remote and mountainous Lydenburg +district which had always been proclaimed as the last refuge of the +burghers. Before entering upon this most difficult of all his advances +Lord Roberts waited until the cavalry and mounted infantry were well +mounted again. Then, when all was ready, the first step in this last +stage of the regular campaign was taken by General Buller, who moved his +army of Natal veterans off the railway line and advanced to a position +from which he could threaten the flank and rear of Botha if he held his +ground against Lord Roberts. Buller's cavalry had been reinforced by the +arrival of Strathcona's Horse, a fine body of Canadian troopers, +whose services had been presented to the nation by the public-spirited +nobleman whose name they bore. They were distinguished by their fine +physique, and by the lassoes, cowboy stirrups, and large spurs of the +North-Western plains. + +It was in the first week of July that Clery joined hands with the +Heidelberg garrison, while Coke with the 10th Brigade cleared the right +flank of the railway by an expedition as far as Amersfoort. On July 6th +the Natal communications were restored, and on the 7th Buller was able +to come through to Pretoria and confer with the Commander-in-Chief. A +Boer force with heavy guns still hung about the line, and several small +skirmishes were fought between Vlakfontein and Greylingstad in order +to drive it away. By the middle of July the immediate vicinity of the +railway was clear save for some small marauding parties who endeavoured +to tamper with the rails and the bridges. Up to the end of the month the +whole of the Natal army remained strung along the line of communications +from Heidelberg to Standerton, waiting for the collection of forage and +transport to enable them to march north against Botha's position. + +On August 8th Buller's troops advanced to the north-east from Paardekop, +pushing a weak Boer force with five guns in front of them. At the cost +of twenty-five wounded, principally of the 60th Rifles, the enemy was +cleared off, and the town of Amersfoort was occupied. On the 13th, +moving on the same line, and meeting with very slight opposition, Buller +took possession of Ermelo. His advance was having a good effect upon the +district, for on the 12th the Standerton commando, which numbered 182 +men, surrendered to Clery. On the 15th, still skirmishing, Buller's men +were at Twyfelaar, and had taken possession of Carolina. Here and there +a distant horseman riding over the olive-coloured hills showed how +closely and incessantly he was watched; but, save for a little sniping +upon his flanks, there was no fighting. He was coming now within +touch of French's cavalry, operating from Middelburg, and on the 14th +heliographic communication was established with Gordon's Brigade. + +Buller's column had come nearer to its friends, but it was also nearer +to the main body of Boers who were waiting in that very rugged piece of +country which lies between Belfast in the west and Machadodorp in the +east. From this rocky stronghold they had thrown out mobile bodies to +harass the British advance from the south, and every day brought Buller +into closer touch with these advance guards of the enemy. On August 21st +he had moved eight miles nearer to Belfast, French operating upon his +left flank. Here he found the Boers in considerable numbers, but he +pushed them northward with his cavalry, mounted infantry, and artillery, +losing between thirty and forty killed and wounded, the greater part +from the ranks of the 18th Hussars and the Gordon Highlanders. This +march brought him within fifteen miles of Belfast, which lay due north +of him. At the same time Pole-Carew with the central column of Lord +Roberts's force had advanced along the railway line, and on August 24th +he occupied Belfast with little resistance. He found, however, that the +enemy were holding the formidable ridges which lie between that place +and Dalmanutha, and that they showed every sign of giving battle, +presenting a firm front to Buller on the south as well as to Roberts's +army on the west. + +On the 23rd some successes attended their efforts to check the advance +from the south. During the day Buller had advanced steadily, though +under incessant fire. The evening found him only six miles to the south +of Dalmanutha, the centre of the Boer position. By some misfortune, +however, after dark two companies of the Liverpool Regiment found +themselves isolated from their comrades and exposed to a very heavy +fire. They had pushed forward too far, and were very near to being +surrounded and destroyed. There were fifty-six casualties in their +ranks, and thirty-two, including their wounded captain, were taken. The +total losses in the day were 121. + +On August 25th it was evident that important events were at hand, for +on that date Lord Roberts arrived at Belfast and held a conference with +Buller, French, and Pole-Carew. The general communicated his plans to +his three lieutenants, and on the 26th and following days the fruits of +the interview were seen in a succession of rapid manoeuvres which drove +the Boers out of this, the strongest position which they had held since +they left the banks of the Tugela. + +The advance of Lord Roberts was made, as his wont is, with two +widespread wings, and a central body to connect them. Such a movement +leaves the enemy in doubt as to which flank will really be attacked, +while if he denudes his centre in order to strengthen both flanks there +is the chance of a frontal advance which might cut him in two. French +with two cavalry brigades formed the left advance, Pole-Carew the +centre, and Buller the right, the whole operations extending over thirty +miles of infamous country. It is probable that Lord Roberts had reckoned +that the Boer right was likely to be their strongest position, since if +it were turned it would cut off their retreat upon Lydenburg, so his +own main attack was directed upon their left. This was carried out by +General Buller on August 26th and 27th. + +On the first day the movement upon Buller's part consisted in a very +deliberate reconnaissance of and closing in upon the enemy's position, +his troops bivouacking upon the ground which they had won. On the +second, finding that all further progress was barred by the strong ridge +of Bergendal, he prepared his attack carefully with artillery and then +let loose his infantry upon it. It was a gallant feat of arms upon +either side. The Boer position was held by a detachment of the +Johannesburg Police, who may have been bullies in peace, but were +certainly heroes in war. The fire of sixty guns was concentrated for a +couple of hours upon a position only a few hundred yards in diameter. +In this infernal fire, which left the rocks yellow with lyddite, the +survivors still waited grimly for the advance of the infantry. No finer +defence was made in the war. The attack was carried out across an open +glacis by the 2nd Rifle Brigade and by the Inniskilling Fusiliers, the +men of Pieter's Hill. Through a deadly fire the gallant infantry swept +over the position, though Metcalfe, the brave colonel of the Rifles, +with eight other officers, and seventy men were killed or wounded. +Lysley, Steward, and Campbell were all killed in leading their +companies, but they could not have met their deaths upon an occasion +more honourable to their battalion. Great credit must also be given to +A and B companies of the Inniskilling Fusiliers, who were actually the +first over the Boer position. The cessation of the artillery fire was +admirably timed. It was sustained up to the last possible instant. 'As +it was,' said the captain of the leading company, 'a 94-pound shell +burst about thirty yards in front of the right of our lot. The smell of +the lyddite was awful.' A pom-pom and twenty prisoners, including the +commander of the police, were the trophies of the day. An outwork of the +Boer position had been carried, and the rumour of defeat and disaster +had already spread through their ranks. Braver men than the burghers +have never lived, but they had reached the limits of human endurance, +and a long experience of defeat in the field had weakened their nerve +and lessened their morale. They were no longer men of the same fibre as +those who had crept up to the trenches of Spion Kop, or faced the lean +warriors of Ladysmith on that grim January morning at Caesar's Camp. +Dutch tenacity would not allow them to surrender, and yet they realised +how hopeless was the fight in which they were engaged. Nearly fifteen +thousand of their best men were prisoners, ten thousand at the least had +returned to their farms and taken the oath. Another ten had been killed, +wounded, or incapacitated. Most of the European mercenaries had left; +they held only the ultimate corner of their own country, they had lost +their grip upon the railway line, and their supply of stores and of +ammunition was dwindling. To such a pass had eleven months of war +reduced that formidable army who had so confidently advanced to the +conquest of South Africa. + +While Buller had established himself firmly upon the left of the Boer +position, Pole-Carew had moved forward to the north of the railway line, +and French had advanced as far as Swart Kopjes upon the Boer right. +These operations on August 26th and 27th were met with some resistance, +and entailed a loss of forty or fifty killed and wounded; but it soon +became evident that the punishment which they had received at Bergendal +had taken the fight out of the Boers, and that this formidable position +was to be abandoned as the others had been. On the 28th the burghers +were retreating, and Machadodorp, where Kruger had sat so long in his +railway carriage, protesting that he would eventually move west and not +east, was occupied by Buller. French, moving on a more northerly route, +entered Watervalonder with his cavalry upon the same date, driving a +small Boer force before him. Amid rain and mist the British columns +were pushing rapidly forwards, but still the burghers held together, and +still their artillery was uncaptured. The retirement was swift, but it +was not yet a rout. + +On the 30th the British cavalry were within touch of Nooitgedacht, and +saw a glad sight in a long trail of ragged men who were hurrying in +their direction along the railway line. They were the British prisoners, +eighteen hundred in number, half of whom had been brought from Waterval +when Pretoria was captured, while the other half represented the men who +had been sent from the south by De Wet, or from the west by De la +Rey. Much allowance must be made for the treatment of prisoners by a +belligerent who is himself short of food, but nothing can excuse the +harshness which the Boers showed to the Colonials who fell into their +power, or the callous neglect of the sick prisoners at Waterval. It is +a humiliating but an interesting fact that from first to last no fewer +than seven thousand of our men passed into their power, all of whom were +now recovered save some sixty officers, who had been carried off by them +in their flight. + +On September 1st Lord Roberts showed his sense of the decisive nature +of these recent operations by publishing the proclamation which had been +issued as early as July 4th, by which the Transvaal became a portion of +the British Empire. On the same day General Buller, who had ceased to +advance to the east and retraced his steps as far as Helvetia, began his +northerly movement in the direction of Lydenburg, which is nearly fifty +miles to the north of the railway line. On that date his force made a +march of fourteen miles, which brought them over the Crocodile River to +Badfontein. Here, on September 2nd, Buller found that the indomitable +Botha was still turning back upon him, for he was faced by so heavy +a shell fire, coming from so formidable a position, that he had to be +content to wait in front of it until some other column should outflank +it. The days of unnecessary frontal attacks were for ever over, and his +force, though ready for anything which might be asked of it, had gone +through a good deal in the recent operations. Since August 21st they had +been under fire almost every day, and their losses, though never great +on any one occasion, amounted in the aggregate during that time to +365. They had crossed the Tugela, they had relieved Ladysmith, they had +forced Laing's Nek, and now it was to them that the honour had fallen of +following the enemy into this last fastness. Whatever criticism may be +directed against some episodes in the Natal campaign, it must never be +forgotten that to Buller and to his men have fallen some of the hardest +tasks of the war, and that these tasks have always in the end been +successfully carried out. The controversy about the unfortunate message +to White, and the memory of the abandoned guns at Colenso, must not +lead us to the injustice of ignoring all that is to be set to the credit +account. + +On September 3rd Lord Roberts, finding how strong a position faced +Buller, despatched Ian Hamilton with a force to turn it upon the right. +Brocklehurst's brigade of cavalry joined Hamilton in his advance. On the +4th he was within signalling distance of Buller, and on the right rear +of the Boer position. The occupation of a mountain called Zwaggenhoek +would establish Hamilton firmly, and the difficult task of seizing it +at night was committed to Colonel Douglas and his fine regiment of Royal +Scots. It was Spion Kop over again, but with a happier ending. At +break of day the Boers discovered that their position had been rendered +untenable and withdrew, leaving the road to Lydenburg clear to Buller. +Hamilton and he occupied the town upon the 6th. The Boers had split into +two parties, the larger one with the guns falling back upon Kruger's +Post, and the others retiring to Pilgrim's Rest. Amid cloud-girt peaks +and hardly passable ravines the two long-enduring armies still wrestled +for the final mastery. + +To the north-east of Lydenburg, between that town and Spitzkop, there is +a formidable ridge called the Mauchberg, and here again the enemy were +found to be standing at bay. They were even better than their word, for +they had always said that they would make their last stand at Lydenburg, +and now they were making one beyond it. But the resistance was +weakening. Even this fine position could not be held against the rush of +the three regiments, the Devons, the Royal Irish, and the Royal +Scots, who were let loose upon it. The artillery supported the attack +admirably. 'They did nobly,' said one who led the advance. 'It is +impossible to overrate the value of their support. They ceased also +exactly at the right moment. One more shell would have hit us.' Mountain +mists saved the defeated burghers from a close pursuit, but the hills +were carried. The British losses on this day, September 8th, were +thirteen killed and twenty-five wounded; but of these thirty-eight no +less than half were accounted for by one of those strange malignant +freaks which can neither be foreseen nor prevented. A shrapnel shell, +fired at an incredible distance, burst right over the Volunteer Company +of the Gordons who were marching in column. Nineteen men fell, but it is +worth recording that, smitten so suddenly and so terribly, the gallant +Volunteers continued to advance as steadily as before this misfortune +befell them. On the 9th Buller was still pushing forward to Spitzkop, +his guns and the 1st Rifles overpowering a weak rearguard resistance of +the Boers. On the 10th he had reached Klipgat, which is halfway between +the Mauchberg and Spitzkop. So close was the pursuit that the Boers, +as they streamed through the passes, flung thirteen of their ammunition +wagons over the cliffs to prevent them from falling into the hands of +the British horsemen. At one period it looked as if the gallant Boer +guns had waited too long in covering the retreat of the burghers. +Strathcona's Horse pressed closely upon them. The situation was saved by +the extreme coolness and audacity of the Boer gunners. 'When the cavalry +were barely half a mile behind the rear gun' says an eye-witness 'and +we regarded its capture as certain, the LEADING Long Tom deliberately +turned to bay and opened with case shot at the pursuers streaming down +the hill in single file over the head of his brother gun. It was a +magnificent coup, and perfectly successful. The cavalry had to retire, +leaving a few men wounded, and by the time our heavy guns had arrived +both Long Toms had got clean away.' But the Boer riflemen would no +longer stand. Demoralised after their magnificent struggle of eleven +months the burghers were now a beaten and disorderly rabble flying +wildly to the eastward, and only held together by the knowledge that in +their desperate situation there was more comfort and safety in numbers. +The war seemed to be swiftly approaching its close. On the 15th Buller +occupied Spitzkop in the north, capturing a quantity of stores, while on +the 14th French took Barberton in the south, releasing all the remaining +British prisoners and taking possession of forty locomotives, which do +not appear to have been injured by the enemy. Meanwhile Pole-Carew had +worked along the railway line, and had occupied Kaapmuiden, which was +the junction where the Barberton line joins that to Lourenco Marques. +Ian Hamilton's force, after the taking of Lydenburg and the action which +followed, turned back, leaving Buller to go his own way, and reached +Komatipoort on September 24th, having marched since September 9th +without a halt through a most difficult country. + +On September 11th an incident had occurred which must have shown the +most credulous believer in Boer prowess that their cause was indeed +lost. On that date Paul Kruger, a refugee from the country which he had +ruined, arrived at Lourenco Marques, abandoning his beaten commandos +and his deluded burghers. How much had happened since those distant days +when as a little herdsboy he had walked behind the bullocks on the great +northward trek. How piteous this ending to all his strivings and his +plottings! A life which might have closed amid the reverence of a +nation and the admiration of the world was destined to finish in exile, +impotent and undignified. Strange thoughts must have come to him during +those hours of flight, memories of his virile and turbulent youth, of +the first settlement of those great lands, of wild wars where his +hand was heavy upon the natives, of the triumphant days of the war +of independence, when England seemed to recoil from the rifles of the +burghers. And then the years of prosperity, the years when the simple +farmer found himself among the great ones of the earth, his name a +household word in Europe, his State rich and powerful, his coffers +filled with the spoil of the poor drudges who worked so hard and paid +taxes so readily. Those were his great days, the days when he hardened +his heart against their appeals for justice and looked beyond his own +borders to his kinsmen in the hope of a South Africa which should be +all his own. And now what had come of it all? A handful of faithful +attendants, and a fugitive old man, clutching in his flight at his +papers and his moneybags. The last of the old-world Puritans, he +departed poring over his well-thumbed Bible, and proclaiming that the +troubles of his country arose, not from his own narrow and corrupt +administration, but from some departure on the part of his fellow +burghers from the stricter tenets of the dopper sect. So Paul Kruger +passed away from the country which he had loved and ruined. + +Whilst the main army of Botha had been hustled out of their position +at Machadodorp and scattered at Lydenburg and at Barberton, a number of +other isolated events had occurred at different points of the seat +of war, each of which deserves some mention. The chief of these was a +sudden revival of the war in the Orange River Colony, where the band +of Olivier was still wandering in the north-eastern districts. Hunter, +moving northwards after the capitulation of Prinsloo at Fouriesburg, +came into contact on August 15th with this force near Heilbron, and +had forty casualties, mainly of the Highland Light Infantry, in a brisk +engagement. For a time the British seemed to have completely lost touch +with Olivier, who suddenly on August 24th struck at a small detachment +consisting almost entirely of Queenstown Rifle Volunteers under Colonel +Ridley, who were reconnoitring near Winburg. The Colonial troopers made +a gallant defence. Throwing themselves into the farmhouse of Helpmakaar, +and occupying every post of vantage around it, they held off more than a +thousand assailants, in spite of the three guns which the latter brought +to bear upon them. A hundred and thirty-two rounds were fired at the +house, but the garrison still refused to surrender. Troopers who had +been present at Wepener declared that the smaller action was the warmer +of the two. Finally on the morning of the third day a relief force +arrived upon the scene, and the enemy dispersed. The British losses were +thirty-two killed and wounded. Nothing daunted by his failure, Olivier +turned upon the town of Winburg and attempted to regain it, but was +defeated again and scattered, he and his three sons being taken. The +result was due to the gallantry and craft of a handful of the Queenstown +Volunteers, who laid an ambuscade in a donga, and disarmed the Boers as +they passed, after the pattern of Sanna's Post. By this action one of +the most daring and resourceful of the Dutch leaders fell into the +hands of the British. It is a pity that his record is stained by his +dishonourable conduct in breaking the compact made on the occasion +of the capture of Prinsloo. But for British magnanimity a drumhead +court-martial should have taken the place of the hospitality of the +Ceylon planters. + +On September 2nd another commando of Free State Boers under Fourie +emerged from the mountain country on the Basuto border, and fell upon +Ladybrand, which was held by a feeble garrison consisting of one company +of the Worcester regiment and forty-three men of the Wiltshire Yeomanry. +The Boers, who had several guns with them, appear to have been the same +force which had been repulsed at Winburg. Major White, a gallant marine, +whose fighting qualities do not seem to have deteriorated with his +distance from salt water, had arranged his defences upon a hill, after +the Wepener model, and held his own most stoutly. So great was the +disparity of the forces that for days acute anxiety was felt lest +another of those humiliating surrenders should interrupt the record of +victories, and encourage the Boers to further resistance. The point was +distant, and it was some time before relief could reach them. But +the dusky chiefs, who from their native mountains looked down on the +military drama which was played so close to their frontier, were +again, as on the Jammersberg, to see the Boer attack beaten back by the +constancy of the British defence. The thin line of soldiers, 150 of them +covering a mile and a half of ground, endured a heavy shell and rifle +fire with unshaken resolution, repulsed every attempt of the burghers, +and held the flag flying until relieved by the forces under White and +Bruce Hamilton. In this march to the relief Hamilton's infantry covered +eighty miles in four and a half days. Lean and hard, inured to warfare, +and far from every temptation of wine or women, the British troops +at this stage of the campaign were in such training, and marched so +splendidly, that the infantry was often very little slower than +the cavalry. Methuen's fine performance in pursuit of De Wet, where +Douglas's infantry did sixty-six miles in seventy-five hours, the City +Imperial Volunteers covering 224 miles in fourteen days, with a single +forced march of thirty miles in seventeen hours, the Shropshires +forty-three miles in thirty-two hours, the forty-five miles in +twenty-five hours of the Essex Regiment, Bruce Hamilton's march +recorded above, and many other fine efforts serve to show the spirit and +endurance of the troops. + +In spite of the defeat at Winburg and the repulse at Ladybrand, there +still remained a fair number of broken and desperate men in the Free +State who held out among the difficult country of the east. A party of +these came across in the middle of September and endeavoured to cut the +railway near Brandfort. They were pursued and broken up by Macdonald, +who, much aided in his operations by the band of scouts which Lord Lovat +had brought with him from Scotland, took several prisoners and a large +number of wagons and of oxen. A party of these Boers attacked a small +post of sixteen Yeomanry under Lieutenant Slater at Bultfontein, but +were held at bay until relief came from Brandfort. + +At two other points the Boer and British forces were in contact during +these operations. One was to the immediate north of Pretoria, where +Grobler's commando was faced by Paget's brigade. On August 18th the +Boers were forced with some loss out of Hornies Nek, which is ten miles +to the north of the capital. On the 22nd a more important skirmish took +place at Pienaar's River, in the same direction, between Baden-Powell's +men, who had come thither in pursuit of De Wet, and Grobler's band. The +advance guards of the two forces galloped into each other, and for once +Boer and Briton looked down the muzzles of each other's rifles. The +gallant Rhodesian Regiment, which had done such splendid service during +the war, suffered most heavily. Colonel Spreckley and four others were +killed, and six or seven wounded. The Boers were broken, however, and +fled, leaving twenty-five prisoners to the victors. Baden-Powell and +Paget pushed forwards as far as Nylstroom, but finding themselves +in wild and profitless country they returned towards Pretoria, and +established the British northern posts at a place called Warm Baths. +Here Paget commanded, while Baden-Powell shortly afterwards went down to +Cape Town to make arrangements for taking over the police force of the +conquered countries, and to receive the enthusiastic welcome of his +colonial fellow-countrymen. Plumer, with a small force operating from +Warm Baths, scattered a Boer commando on September 1st, capturing a few +prisoners and a considerable quantity of munitions of war. On the 5th +there was another skirmish in the same neighbourhood, during which the +enemy attacked a kopje held by a company of Munster Fusiliers, and was +driven off with loss. Many thousands of cattle were captured by the +British in this part of the field of operations, and were sent into +Pretoria, whence they helped to supply the army in the east. + +There was still considerable effervescence in the western districts of +the Transvaal, and a mounted detachment met with fierce opposition at +the end of August on their journey from Zeerust to Krugersdorp. Methuen, +after his unsuccessful chase of De Wet, had gone as far as Zeerust, +and had then taken his force on to Mafeking to refit. Before leaving +Zeerust, however, he had despatched Colonel Little to Pretoria with a +column which consisted of his own third cavalry brigade, 1st Brabant's, +the Kaffrarian Rifles, R battery of Horse Artillery, and four Colonial +guns. They were acting as guard to a very large convoy of 'returned +empties.' The district which they had to traverse is one of the most +fertile in the Transvaal, a land of clear streams and of orange groves. +But the farmers are numerous and aggressive, and the column, which was +900 strong, could clear all resistance from its front, but found it +impossible to brush off the snipers upon its flanks and rear. Shortly +after their start the column was deprived of the services of its gallant +leader, Colonel Little, who was shot while riding with his advance +scouts. Colonel Dalgety took over the command. Numerous desultory +attacks culminated in a fierce skirmish at Quaggafontein on August 31st, +in which the column had sixty casualties. The event might have been +serious, as De la Rey's main force appears to have been concentrated +upon the British detachment, the brunt of the action falling upon the +Kaffrarian Rifles. By a rapid movement the column was able to extricate +itself and win its way safely to Krugersdorp, but it narrowly escaped +out of the wolf's jaws, and as it emerged into the open country De la +Rey's guns were seen galloping for the pass which they had just come +through. This force was sent south to Kroonstad to refit. + +Lord Methuen's army, after its long marches and arduous work, arrived +at Mafeking on August 28th for the purpose of refitting. Since his +departure from Boshof on May 14th his men had been marching with hardly +a rest, and he had during that time fought fourteen engagements. He was +off upon the war-path once more, with fresh horses and renewed energy, +on September 8th, and on the 9th, with the co-operation of General +Douglas, he scattered a Boer force at Malopo, capturing thirty prisoners +and a great quantity of stores. On the 14th he ran down a convoy and +regained one of the Colenso guns and much ammunition. On the 20th he +again made large captures. If in the early phases of the war the Boers +had given Paul Methuen some evil hours, he was certainly getting his own +back again. At the same time Clements was despatched from Pretoria with +a small mobile force for the purpose of clearing the Rustenburg and +Krugersdorp districts, which had always been storm centres. These two +forces, of Methuen and of Clements, moved through the country, sweeping +the scattered Boer bands before them, and hunting them down until they +dispersed. At Kekepoort and at Hekspoort Clements fought successful +skirmishes, losing at the latter action Lieutenant Stanley of the +Yeomanry, the Somersetshire cricketer, who showed, as so many have done, +how close is the connection between the good sportsman and the +good soldier. On the 12th Douglas took thirty-nine prisoners near +Lichtenburg. On the 18th Rundle captured a gun at Bronkhorstfontein. +Hart at Potchefstroom, Hildyard in the Utrecht district, Macdonald in +the Orange River Colony, everywhere the British Generals were busily +stamping out the remaining embers of what had been so terrible a +conflagration. + +Much trouble but no great damage was inflicted upon the British during +this last stage of the war by the incessant attacks upon the lines of +railway by roving bands of Boers. The actual interruption of traffic +was of little consequence, for the assiduous Sappers with their gangs of +Basuto labourers were always at hand to repair the break. But the loss +of stores, and occasionally of lives, was more serious. Hardly a day +passed that the stokers and drivers were not made targets of by snipers +among the kopjes, and occasionally a train was entirely destroyed. +[Footnote: It is to be earnestly hoped that those in authority will see +that these men obtain the medal and any other reward which can mark our +sense of their faithful service. One of them in the Orange River Colony, +after narrating to me his many hairbreadth escapes, prophesied bitterly +that the memory of his services would pass with the need for them.] +Chief among these raiders was the wild Theron, who led a band which +contained men of all nations--the same gang who had already, as +narrated, held up a train in the Orange River Colony. On August 31st he +derailed another at Flip River to the south of Johannesburg, blowing up +the engine and burning thirteen trucks. Almost at the same time a train +was captured near Kroonstad, which appeared to indicate that the great +De Wet was back in his old hunting-grounds. On the same day the line was +cut at Standerton. A few days later, however, the impunity with which +these feats had been performed was broken, for in a similar venture near +Krugersdorp the dashing Theron and several of his associates lost their +lives. + +Two other small actions performed at this period of the war demand a +passing notice. One was a smart engagement near Kraai Railway Station, +in which Major Broke of the Sappers with a hundred men attacked a +superior Boer force upon a kopje and drove them off with loss--a feat +which it is safe to say he could not have accomplished six months +earlier. The other was the fine defence made by 125 of the Canadian +Mounted Rifles, who, while guarding the railway, were attacked by +a considerable Boer force with two guns. They proved once more, as +Ladybrand and Elands River had shown, that with provisions, cartridges, +and brains, the smallest force can successfully hold its own if it +confines itself to the defensive. + +And now the Boer cause appeared to be visibly tottering to its fall. The +flight of the President had accelerated that process of disintegration +which had already set in. Schalk Burger had assumed the office +of Vice-President, and the notorious Ben Viljoen had become first +lieutenant of Louis Botha in maintaining the struggle. Lord Roberts had +issued an extremely judicious proclamation, in which he pointed out the +uselessness of further resistance, declared that guerilla warfare would +be ruthlessly suppressed, and informed the burghers that no fewer +than fifteen thousand of their fellow-countrymen were in his hands as +prisoners, and that none of these could be released until the last rifle +had been laid down. From all sides in the third week of September +the British forces were converging on Komatipoort, the frontier town. +Already wild figures, stained and tattered after nearly a year of +warfare, were walking the streets of Lourenco Marques, gazed at with +wonder and some distrust by the Portuguese inhabitants. The exiled +burghers moodily pacing the streets saw their exiled President seated in +his corner of the Governor's verandah, the well-known curved pipe still +dangling from his mouth, the Bible by his chair. Day by day the number +of these refugees increased. On September 17th special trains were +arriving crammed with the homeless burghers, and with the mercenaries of +many nations--French, German, Irish-American, and Russian--all anxious +to make their way home. By the 19th no fewer than seven hundred had +passed over. + +At dawn on September 22nd a half-hearted attempt was made by the +commando of Erasmus to attack Elands River Station, but it was beaten +back by the garrison. While it was going on Paget fell upon the camp +which Erasmus had left behind him, and captured his stores. From all +over the country, from Plumer's Bushmen, from Barton at Krugersdorp, +from the Colonials at Heilbron, from Clements on the west, came the same +reports of dwindling resistance and of the abandoning of cattle, arms, +and ammunition. + +On September 24th came the last chapter in this phase of the campaign in +the Eastern Transvaal, when at eight in the morning Pole-Carew and his +Guardsmen occupied Komatipoort. They had made desperate marches, one +of them through thick bush, where they went for nineteen miles without +water, but nothing could shake the cheery gallantry of the men. To +them fell the honour, an honour well deserved by their splendid work +throughout the whole campaign, of entering and occupying the ultimate +eastern point which the Boers could hold. Resistance had been threatened +and prepared for, but the grim silent advance of that veteran infantry +took the heart out of the defence. With hardly a shot fired the town +was occupied. The bridge which would enable the troops to receive their +supplies from Lourenco Marques was still intact. General Pienaar and +the greater part of his force, amounting to over two thousand men, had +crossed the frontier and had been taken down to Delagoa Bay, where they +met the respect and attention which brave men in misfortune deserve. +Small bands had slipped away to the north and the south, but they were +insignificant in numbers and depressed in spirit. For the time it seemed +that the campaign was over, but the result showed that there was greater +vitality in the resistance of the burghers and less validity in their +oaths than any one had imagined. + +One find of the utmost importance was made at Komatipoort, and at Hector +Spruit on the Crocodile River. That excellent artillery which had +fought so gallant a fight against our own more numerous guns, was found +destroyed and abandoned. Pole-Carew at Komatipoort got one Long Tom +(96-pound) Creusot, and one smaller gun. Ian Hamilton at Hector +Spruit found the remains of many guns, which included two of our horse +artillery twelve-pounders, two large Creusot guns, two Krupps, one +Vickers-Maxim quick firer, two pompoms and four mountain guns. + + + +CHAPTER 30. THE CAMPAIGN OF DE WET. + +It had been hoped that the dispersal of the main Boer army, the capture +of its guns and the expulsion of many both of the burghers and of +the foreign mercenaries, would have marked the end of the war. These +expectations were, however, disappointed, and South Africa was destined +to be afflicted and the British Empire disturbed by a useless guerilla +campaign. After the great and dramatic events which characterised the +earlier phases of the struggle between the Briton and the Boer for the +mastery of South Africa it is somewhat of the nature of an anticlimax to +turn one's attention to those scattered operations which prolonged the +resistance for a turbulent year at the expense of the lives of many +brave men on either side. These raids and skirmishes, which had their +origin rather in the hope of vengeance than of victory, inflicted much +loss and misery upon the country, but, although we may deplore the +desperate resolution which bids brave men prefer death to subjugation, +it is not for us, the countrymen of Hereward or Wallace, to condemn it. + +In one important respect these numerous, though trivial, conflicts +differed from the battles in the earlier stages of the war. The British +had learned their lesson so thoroughly that they often turned the tables +upon their instructors. Again and again the surprise was effected, not +by the nation of hunters, but by those rooineks whose want of cunning +and of veld-craft had for so long been a subject of derision and +merriment. A year of the kopje and the donga had altered all that. And +in the proportion of casualties another very marked change had occurred. +Time was when in battle after battle a tenth would have been a liberal +estimate for the losses of the Boers compared with those of the Briton. +So it was at Stormberg; so it was at Colenso; so it may have been at +Magersfontein. But in this last stage of the war the balance was +rather in favour of the British. It may have been because they were +now frequently acting on the defensive, or it may have been from an +improvement in their fire, or it may have come from the more desperate +mood of the burghers, but in any case the fact remains that every +encounter diminished the small reserves of the Boers rather than the +ample forces of their opponents. + +One other change had come over the war, which caused more distress and +searchings of conscience among some of the people of Great Britain +than the darkest hours of their misfortunes. This lay in the increased +bitterness of the struggle, and in those more strenuous measures which +the British commanders felt themselves entitled and compelled to adopt. +Nothing could exceed the lenity of Lord Roberts's early proclamations +in the Free State. But, as the months went on and the struggle still +continued, the war assumed a harsher aspect. Every farmhouse represented +a possible fort, and a probable depot for the enemy. The extreme measure +of burning them down was only carried out after a definite offence, such +as affording cover for snipers, or as a deterrent to railway wreckers, +but in either case it is evident that the women or children who were +usually the sole occupants of the farm could not by their own unaided +exertions prevent the line from being cut or the riflemen from firing. +It is even probable that the Boers may have committed these deeds in +the vicinity of houses the destruction of which they would least regret. +Thus, on humanitarian grounds there were strong arguments against this +policy of destruction being pushed too far, and the political reasons +were even stronger, since a homeless man is necessarily the last man +to settle down, and a burned-out family the last to become contented +British citizens. On the other hand, the impatience of the army towards +what they regarded as the abuses of lenity was very great, and they +argued that the war would be endless if the women in the farm were +allowed always to supply the sniper on the kopje. The irregular +and brigand-like fashion in which the struggle was carried out had +exasperated the soldiers, and though there were few cases of individual +outrage or unauthorised destruction, the general orders were applied +with some harshness, and repressive measures were taken which warfare +may justify but which civilisation must deplore. + +After the dispersal of the main army at Komatipoort there remained +a considerable number of men in arms, some of them irreconcilable +burghers, some of them foreign adventurers, and some of them Cape +rebels, to whom British arms were less terrible than British law. These +men, who were still well armed and well mounted, spread themselves over +the country, and acted with such energy that they gave the impression +of a large force. They made their way into the settled districts, and +brought fresh hope and fresh disaster to many who had imagined that +the war had passed for ever away from them. Under compulsion from their +irreconcilable countrymen, a large number of the farmers broke their +parole, mounted the horses which British leniency had left with them, +and threw themselves once more into the struggle, adding their honour +to the other sacrifices which they had made for their country. In any +account of the continual brushes between these scattered bands and the +British forces, there must be such a similarity in procedure and result, +that it would be hard for the writer and intolerable for the reader if +they were set forth in detail. As a general statement it may be said +that during the months to come there was no British garrison in any +one of the numerous posts in the Transvaal, and in that portion of +the Orange River Colony which lies east of the railway, which was not +surrounded by prowling riflemen, there was no convoy sent to supply +those garrisons which was not liable to be attacked upon the road, and +there was no train upon any one of the three lines which might not find +a rail up and a hundred raiders covering it with their Mausers. With +some two thousand miles of railroad to guard, so many garrisons to +provide, and an escort to be furnished to every convoy, there remained +out of the large body of British troops in the country only a moderate +force who were available for actual operations. This force was +distributed in different districts scattered over a wide extent of +country, and it was evident that while each was strong enough to +suppress local resistance, still at any moment a concentration of the +Boer scattered forces upon a single British column might place the +latter in a serious position. The distribution of the British in October +and November was roughly as follows. Methuen was in the Rustenburg +district, Barton at Krugersdorp and operating down the line to +Klerksdorp, Settle was in the West, Paget at Pienaar's River, Clements +in the Magaliesberg, Hart at Potchefstroom, Lyttelton at Middelburg, +Smith-Dorrien at Belfast, W. Kitchener at Lydenburg, French in the +Eastern Transvaal, Hunter, Rundle, Brabant, and Bruce Hamilton in the +Orange River Colony. Each of these forces was occupied in the same +sort of work, breaking up small bodies of the enemy, hunting for arms, +bringing in refugees, collecting supplies, and rounding up cattle. Some, +however, were confronted with organised resistance and some were not. A +short account may be given in turn of each separate column. + +I would treat first the operations of General Barton, because they form +the best introduction to that narrative of the doings of Christian De +Wet to which this chapter will be devoted. + +The most severe operations during the month of October fell to the lot +of this British General, who, with some of the faithful fusiliers whom +he had led from the first days in Natal, was covering the line from +Krugersdorp to Klerksdorp. It is a long stretch, and one which, as the +result shows, is as much within striking distance of the Orange Free +Staters as of the men of the Transvaal. Upon October 5th Barton +left Krugersdorp with a force which consisted of the Scots and Welsh +Fusiliers, five hundred mounted men, the 78th R.F.A., three pom-poms, +and a 4.7 naval gun. For a fortnight, as the small army moved slowly +down the line of the railroad, their progress was one continual +skirmish. On October 6th they brushed the enemy aside in an action in +which the volunteer company of the Scots Fusiliers gained the +applause of their veteran comrades. On the 8th and 9th there was sharp +skirmishing, the brunt of which on the latter date fell upon the Welsh +Fusiliers, who had three officers and eleven men injured. The commandos +of Douthwaite, Liebenberg, and Van der Merwe seem to have been occupied +in harassing the column during their progress through the Gatsrand +range. On the 15th the desultory sniping freshened again into a skirmish +in which the honours and the victory belonged mainly to the Welshmen and +to that very keen and efficient body, the Scottish Yeomanry. Six Boers +were left dead upon the ground. On October 17th the column reached +Frederickstad, where it halted. On that date six of Marshall's Horse +were cut off while collecting supplies. The same evening three hundred +of the Imperial Light Horse came in from Krugersdorp. + +Up to this date the Boer forces which dogged the column had been +annoying but not seriously aggressive. On the 19th, however, affairs +took an unexpected turn. The British scouts rode in to report a huge +dust cloud whirling swiftly northwards from the direction of the Vaal +River--soon plainly visible to all, and showing as it drew nearer the +hazy outline of a long column of mounted men. The dark coats of the +riders, and possibly the speed of their advance, showed that they were +Boers, and soon it was rumoured that it was no other than Christian De +Wet with his merry men, who, with characteristic audacity, had ridden +back into the Transvaal in the hope of overwhelming Barton's column. + +It is some time since we have seen anything of this energetic gentleman +with the tinted glasses, but as the narrative will be much occupied with +him in the future a few words are needed to connect him with the past. +It has been already told how he escaped through the net which caught so +many of his countrymen at the time of the surrender of Prinsloo, and how +he was chased at furious speed from the Vaal River to the mountains of +Magaliesberg. Here he eluded his pursuers, separated from Steyn, who +desired to go east to confer with Kruger, and by the end of August was +back again in his favourite recruiting ground in the north of the +Orange River Colony. Here for nearly two months he had lain very quiet, +refitting and reassembling his scattered force, until now, ready for +action once more, and fired by the hope of cutting off an isolated +British force, he rode swiftly northwards with two thousand men +under that rolling cloud which had been spied by the watchers of +Frederickstad. + +The problem before him was a more serious one, however, than any which +he had ever undertaken, for this was no isolated regiment or ill-manned +post, but a complete little field force very ready to do battle with +him. De Wet's burghers, as they arrived, sprang from their ponies and +went into action in their usual invisible but effective fashion, +covered by the fire of several guns. The soldiers had thrown up lines +of sangars, however, and were able, though exposed to a very heavy fire +coming from several directions, to hold their own until nightfall, when +the defences were made more secure. On the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and +24th the cordon of the attack was drawn gradually closer, the Boers +entirely surrounding the British force, and it was evident that they +were feeling round for a point at which an assault might be delivered. + +The position of the defenders upon the morning of October 25th was as +follows. The Scots Fusiliers were holding a ridge to the south. General +Barton with the rest of his forces occupied a hill some distance off. +Between the two was a valley down which ran the line, and also the +spruit upon which the British depended for their water supply. On each +side of the line were ditches, and at dawn on this seventh day of the +investment it was found that these had been occupied by snipers during +the night, and that it was impossible to water the animals. One of two +things must follow. Either the force must shift its position or it must +drive these men out of their cover. No fire could do it, as they lay in +perfect safety. They must be turned out at the point of the bayonet. + +About noon several companies of Scots and Welsh Fusiliers advanced from +different directions in very extended order upon the ditches. Captain +Baillie's company of the former regiment first attracted the fire of +the burghers. Wounded twice the brave officer staggered on until a third +bullet struck him dead. Six of his men were found lying beside him. The +other companies were exposed in their turn to a severe fire, but rushing +onwards they closed rapidly in upon the ditches. There have been few +finer infantry advances during the war, for the veld was perfectly flat +and the fire terrific. A mile of ground was crossed by the fusiliers. +Three gallant officers--Dick, Elliot, and Best--went down; but the rush +of the men was irresistible. At the edge of the ditches the supports +overtook the firing line, and they all surged into the trenches +together. Then it was seen how perilous was the situation of the Boer +snipers. They had placed themselves between the upper and the nether +millstone. There was no escape for them save across the open. It says +much for their courage that they took that perilous choice rather than +wave the white flag, which would have ensured their safety. + +The scene which followed has not often been paralleled. About a hundred +and fifty burghers rushed out of the ditches, streaming across the veld +upon foot to the spot where their horses had been secreted. Rifles, +pom-poms, and shrapnel played upon them during this terrible race. 'A +black running mob carrying coats, blankets, boots, rifles, &c., was seen +to rise as if from nowhere and rush as fast as they could, dropping the +various things they carried as they ran.' One of their survivors has +described how awful was that wild blind flight, through a dust-cloud +thrown up by the shells. For a mile the veld was dotted with those who +had fallen. Thirty-six were found dead, thirty were wounded, and thirty +more gave themselves up as prisoners. Some were so demoralised that +they rushed into the hospital and surrendered to the British doctor. The +Imperial Light Horse were for some reason slow to charge. Had they done +so at once, many eye-witnesses agree that not a fugitive should have +escaped. On the other hand, the officer in command may have feared that +in doing so he might mask the fire of the British guns. + +One incident in the action caused some comment at the time. A small +party of Imperial Light Horse, gallantly led by Captain Yockney of B +Squadron, came to close quarters with a group of Boers. Five of the +enemy having held up their hands Yockney passed them and pushed on +against their comrades. On this the prisoners seized their rifles once +more and fired upon their captors. A fierce fight ensued with only a few +feet between the muzzles of the rifles. Three Boers were shot dead, five +wounded, and eight taken. Of these eight three were shot next day by +order of court-martial for having resumed their weapons after surrender, +while two others were acquitted. The death of these men in cold blood +is to be deplored, but it is difficult to see how any rules of civilised +warfare can be maintained if a flagrant breach of them is not promptly +and sternly punished. + +On receiving this severe blow De Wet promptly raised the investment and +hastened to regain his favourite haunts. Considerable reinforcements +had reached Barton upon the same day, including the Dublins, the Essex, +Strathcona's Horse, and the Elswick Battery, with some very welcome +supplies of ammunition. As Barton had now more than a thousand mounted +men of most excellent quality it is difficult to imagine why he did not +pursue his defeated enemy. He seems to have underrated the effect which +he had produced, for instead of instantly assuming the offensive he +busied himself in strengthening his defences. Yet the British losses in +the whole operations had not exceeded one hundred, so that there does +not appear to have been any reason why the force should be crippled. +As Barton was in direct and constant telegraphic communication with +Pretoria, it is possible that he was acting under superior orders in the +course which he adopted. + +It was not destined, however, that De Wet should be allowed to escape +with his usual impunity. On the 27th, two days after his retreat +from Frederickstad he was overtaken--stumbled upon by pure chance +apparently--by the mounted infantry and cavalry of Charles Knox and De +Lisle. The Boers, a great disorganised cloud of horsemen, swept swiftly +along the northern bank of the Vaal, seeking for a place to cross, while +the British rode furiously after them, spraying them with shrapnel +at every opportunity. Darkness and a violent storm gave De Wet his +opportunity to cross, but the closeness of the pursuit compelled him to +abandon two of his guns, one of them a Krupp and the other one of the +British twelve-pounders of Sanna's Post, which, to the delight of the +gunners, was regained by that very U battery to which it belonged. + +Once across the river and back in his own country De Wet, having placed +seventy miles between himself and his pursuers, took it for granted that +he was out of their reach, and halted near the village of Bothaville to +refit. But the British were hard upon his track, and for once they were +able to catch this indefatigable man unawares. Yet their knowledge of +his position seems to have been most hazy, and on the very day before +that on which they found him, General Charles Knox, with the main body +of the force, turned north, and was out of the subsequent action. De +Lisle's mounted troops also turned north, but fortunately not entirely +out of call. To the third and smallest body of mounted men, that under +Le Gallais, fell the honour of the action which I am about to describe. + +It is possible that the move northwards of Charles Knox and of De Lisle +had the effect of a most elaborate stratagem, since it persuaded the +Boer scouts that the British were retiring. So indeed they were, save +only the small force of Le Gallais, which seems to have taken one last +cast round to the south before giving up the pursuit. In the grey of the +morning of November 6th, Major Lean with forty men of the 5th Mounted +Infantry came upon three weary Boers sleeping upon the veld. Having +secured the men, and realising that they were an outpost, Lean pushed +on, and topping a rise some hundreds of yards further, he and his men +saw a remarkable scene. There before them stretched the camp of the +Boers, the men sleeping, the horses grazing, the guns parked, and the +wagons outspanned. + +There was little time for consideration. The Kaffir drivers were already +afoot and strolling out for their horses, or lighting the fires for +their masters' coffee. With splendid decision, although he had but forty +men to oppose to over a thousand, Lean sent back for reinforcements +and opened fire upon the camp. In an instant it was buzzing like an +overturned hive. Up sprang the sleepers, rushed for their horses, and +galloped away across the veld, leaving their guns and wagons behind. +A few stalwarts remained, however, and their numbers were increased by +those whose horses had stampeded, and who were, therefore, unable to get +away. They occupied an enclosed kraal and a farmhouse in front of the +British, whence they opened a sharp fire. At the same time a number of +the Boers who had ridden away came back again, having realised how weak +their assailants were, and worked round the British flanks upon either +side. + +Le Gallais, with his men, had come up, but the British force was still +far inferior to that which it was attacking. A section of U battery +was able to unlimber, and open fire at four hundred yards from the +Boer position. The British made no attempt to attack, but contented +themselves with holding on to the position from which they could prevent +the Boer guns from being removed. The burghers tried desperately to +drive off the stubborn fringe of riflemen. A small stone shed in the +possession of the British was the centre of the Boer fire, and it was +within its walls that Ross of the Durhams was horribly wounded by an +explosive ball, and that the brave Jerseyman, Le Gallais, was killed. +Before his fall he had despatched his staff officer, Major Hickie, to +hurry up men from the rear. + +On the fall of Ross and Le Gallais the command fell upon Major Taylor +of U battery. The position at that time was sufficiently alarming. The +Boers were working round each flank in considerable numbers, and they +maintained a heavy fire from a stone enclosure in the centre. The +British forces actually engaged were insignificant, consisting of forty +men of the 5th Mounted Infantry, and two guns in the centre, forty-six +men of the 17th and 18th Imperial Yeomanry upon the right, and 105 of +the 8th Mounted Infantry on the left or 191 rifles in all. The flanks of +this tiny force had to extend to half a mile to hold off the Boer flank +attack, but they were heartened in their resistance by the knowledge +that their comrades were hastening to their assistance. Taylor, +realising that a great effort must be made to tide over the crisis, sent +a messenger back with orders that the convoy should be parked, and +every available man sent up to strengthen the right flank, which was the +weakest. The enemy got close on to one of the guns, and swept down the +whole detachment, but a handful of the Suffolk Mounted Infantry under +Lieutenant Peebles most gallantly held them off from it. For an hour +the pressure was extreme. Then two companies of the 7th Mounted Infantry +came up, and were thrown on to each flank. Shortly afterwards Major +Welch, with two more companies of the same corps, arrived, and the +tide began slowly to turn. The Boers were themselves outflanked by the +extension of the British line and were forced to fall back. At half-past +eight De Lisle, whose force had trotted and galloped for twelve miles, +arrived with several companies of Australians, and the success of the +day was assured. The smoke of the Prussian guns at Waterloo was not +a more welcome sight than the dust of De Lisle's horsemen. But the +question now was whether the Boers, who were in the walled inclosure and +farm which formed their centre, would manage to escape. The place was +shelled, but here, as often before, it was found how useless a weapon +is shrapnel against buildings. There was nothing for it but to storm +it, and a grim little storming party of fifty men, half British, half +Australian, was actually waiting with fixed bayonets for the whistle +which was to be their signal, when the white flag flew out from the +farm, and all was over. Warned by many a tragic experience the British +still lay low in spite of the flag. 'Come out! come out!' they shouted. +Eighty-two unwounded Boers filed out of the enclosure, and the total +number of prisoners came to 114, while between twenty and thirty Boers +were killed. Six guns, a pom-pom, and 1000 head of cattle were the +prizes of the victors. + +This excellent little action showed that the British mounted infantry +had reached a point of efficiency at which they were quite able to match +the Boers at their own game. For hours they held them with an inferior +force, and finally, when the numbers became equal, were able to drive +them off and capture their guns. The credit is largely due to Major +Lean for his prompt initiative on discovering their laager, and to Major +Taylor for his handling of the force during a very critical time. Above +all, it was due to the dead leader, Le Gallais, who had infected every +man under him with his own spirit of reckless daring. 'If I die, tell my +mother that I die happy, as we got the guns,' said he, with his failing +breath. The British total losses were twelve killed (four officers) and +thirty-three wounded (seven officers). Major Welch, a soldier of great +promise, much beloved by his men, was one of the slain. Following +closely after the repulse at Frederickstad this action was a heavy blow +to De Wet. At last, the British were beginning to take something off the +score which they owed the bold raider, but there was to be many an item +on either side before the long reckoning should be closed. The Boers, +with De Wet, fled south, where it was not long before they showed that +they were still a military force with which we had to reckon. + +In defiance of chronology it may perhaps make a clearer narrative if I +continue at once with the movements of De Wet from the time that he lost +his guns at Bothaville, and then come back to the consideration of the +campaign in the Transvaal, and to a short account of those scattered +and disconnected actions which break the continuity of the story. Before +following De Wet, however, it is necessary to say something of +the general state of the Orange River Colony and of some military +developments which had occurred there. Under the wise and conciliatory +rule of General Pretyman the farmers in the south and west were settling +down, and for the time it looked as if a large district was finally +pacified. The mild taxation was cheerfully paid, schools were reopened, +and a peace party made itself apparent, with Fraser and Piet de Wet, the +brother of Christian, among its strongest advocates. + +Apart from the operations of De Wet there appeared to be no large force +in the field in the Orange River Colony, but early in October of 1900 +a small but very mobile and efficient Boer force skirted the eastern +outposts of the British, struck the southern line of communications, and +then came up the western flank, attacking, where an attack was possible, +each of the isolated and weakly garrisoned townlets to which it came, +and recruiting its strength from a district which had been hardly +touched by the ravages of war, and which by its prosperity alone might +have proved the amenity of British military rule. This force seems to +have skirted Wepener without attacking a place of such evil omen to +their cause. Their subsequent movements are readily traced by a sequence +of military events. + +On October 1st Rouxville was threatened. On the 9th an outpost of the +Cheshire Militia was taken and the railway cut for a few hours in the +neighbourhood of Bethulie. A week later the Boer riders were dotting the +country round Phillipolis, Springfontein and Jagersfontein, the latter +town being occupied upon October 16th, while the garrison held out upon +the nearest kopje. The town was retaken from the enemy by King Hall +and his men, who were Seaforth Highlanders and police. There was fierce +fighting in the streets, and from twenty to thirty of each side were +killed or wounded. Fauresmith was attacked on October 19th, but was also +in the very safe hands of the Seaforths, who held it against a severe +assault. Phillipolis was continually attacked between the 18th and the +24th, but made a most notable defence, which was conducted by Gostling, +the resident magistrate, with forty civilians. For a week this band of +stalwarts held their own against 600 Boers, and were finally relieved +by a force from the railway. All the operations were not, however, as +successful as these three defences. On October 24th a party of cavalry +details belonging to many regiments were snapped up in an ambuscade. +On the next day Jacobsdal was attacked, with considerable loss to the +British. The place was entered in the night, and the enemy occupied the +houses which surrounded the square. The garrison, consisting of about +sixty men of the Capetown Highlanders, had encamped in the square, and +were helpless when fire was opened upon them in the morning. There was +practically no resistance, and yet for hours a murderous fire was kept +up upon the tents in which they cowered, so that the affair seems not to +have been far removed from murder. Two-thirds of the little force were +killed or wounded. The number of the assailants does not appear to have +been great, and they vanished upon the appearance of a relieving force +from Modder River. + +After the disaster at Jacobsdal the enemy appeared on November 1st near +Kimberley and captured a small convoy. The country round was disturbed, +and Settle was sent south with a column to pacify it. In this way we can +trace this small cyclone from its origin in the old storm centre in the +north-east of the Orange River Colony, sweeping round the whole +country, striking one post after another, and finally blowing out at the +corresponding point upon the other side of the seat of war. + +We have last seen De Wet upon November 6th, when he fled south from +Bothaville, leaving his guns but not his courage behind him. Trekking +across the line, and for a wonder gathering up no train as he passed, +he made for that part of the eastern Orange River Colony which had been +reoccupied by his countrymen. Here, in the neighbourhood of Thabanchu, +he was able to join other forces, probably the commandos of Haasbroek +and Fourie, which still retained some guns. At the head of a +considerable force he attacked the British garrison of Dewetsdorp, a +town some forty miles to the south-east of Bloemfontein. + +It was on November 18th that De Wet assailed the place, and it fell upon +the 24th, after a defence which appears to have been a very creditable +one. Several small British columns were moving in the south-east of the +Colony, but none of them arrived in time to avert the disaster, which +is the more inexplicable as the town is within one day's ride of +Bloemfontein. The place is a village hemmed in upon its western side by +a semicircle of steep rocky hills broken in the centre by a gully. The +position was a very extended one, and had the fatal weakness that +the loss of any portion of it meant the loss of it all. The garrison +consisted of one company of Highland Light Infantry on the southern horn +of the semicircle, three companies of the 2nd Gloucester Regiment on the +northern and central part, with two guns of the 68th battery. Some of +the Royal Irish Mounted Infantry and a handful of police made up the +total of the defenders to something over four hundred, Major Massy in +command. + +The attack developed at that end of the ridge which was held by the +company of Highlanders. Every night the Boer riflemen drew in closer, +and every morning found the position more desperate. On the 20th the +water supply of the garrison was cut, though a little was still brought +up by volunteers during the night. The thirst in the sultry trenches was +terrible, but the garrison still, with black lips and parched tongues, +held on to their lines. On the 22nd the attack had made such progress +that the post had by the Highlanders became untenable, and had to be +withdrawn. It was occupied next morning by the Boers, and the whole +ridge was at their mercy. Out of eighteen men who served one of the +British guns sixteen were killed or wounded, and the last rounds were +fired by the sergeant-farrier, who carried, loaded, and fired all by +himself. All day the soldiers held out, but the thirst was in itself +enough to justify if not to compel a surrender. At half-past five +the garrison laid down their arms, having lost about sixty killed or +wounded. There does not, as far as one can learn, seem to have been any +attempt to injure the two guns which fell into the hands of the enemy. +De Wet himself was one of the first to ride into the British trenches, +and the prisoners gazed with interest at the short strong figure, with +the dark tail coat and the square-topped bowler hat, of the most famous +of the Boer leaders. + +British columns were converging, however, from several quarters, and De +Wet had to be at once on the move. On the 26th Dewetsdorp was reoccupied +by General Charles Knox with fifteen hundred men. De Wet had two days' +start, but so swift was Knox that on the 27th he had run him down at +Vaalbank, where he shelled his camp. De Wet broke away, however, and +trekking south for eighteen hours without a halt, shook off the pursuit. +He had with him at this time nearly 8000 men with several guns under +Haasbroek, Fourie, Philip Botha, and Steyn. It was his declared +intention to invade Cape Colony with his train of weary footsore +prisoners, and the laurels of Dewetsdorp still green upon him. He was +much aided in all his plans by that mistaken leniency which had refused +to recognise that a horse is in that country as much a weapon as a +rifle, and had left great numbers upon the farms with which he could +replace his useless animals. So numerous were they that many of the +Boers had two or three for their own use. It is not too much to say that +our weak treatment of the question of horses will come to be recognised +as the one great blot upon the conduct of the war, and that our undue +and fantastic scruples have prolonged hostilities for months, and cost +the country many lives and many millions of pounds. + +De Wet's plan for the invasion of the Colony was not yet destined to be +realised, for a tenacious man had set himself to frustrate it. Several +small but mobile British columns, those of Pilcher, of Barker, and +of Herbert, under the supreme direction of Charles Knox, were working +desperately to head him off. In torrents of rain which turned every +spruit into a river and every road into a quagmire, the British horsemen +stuck manfully to their work. De Wet had hurried south, crossed the +Caledon River, and made for Odendaal's Drift. But Knox, after the +skirmish at Vaalbank, had trekked swiftly south to Bethulie, and was now +ready with three mobile columns and a network of scouts and patrols +to strike in any direction. For a few days he had lost touch, but his +arrangements were such that he must recover it if the Boers either +crossed the railroad or approached the river. On December 2nd he had +authentic information that De Wet was crossing the Caledon, and in an +instant the British columns were all off at full cry once more, sweeping +over the country with a front of fifteen miles. On the 3rd and 4th, in +spite of frightful weather, the two little armies of horsemen struggled +on, fetlock-deep in mud, with the rain lashing their faces. At night +without cover, drenched and bitterly cold, the troopers threw themselves +down on the sodden veld to snatch a few hours' sleep before renewing the +interminable pursuit. The drift over the Caledon flowed deep and strong, +but the Boer had passed and the Briton must pass also. Thirty guns took +to the water, diving completely under the coffee-coloured surface, to +reappear glistening upon the southern bank. Everywhere there were signs +of the passage of the enemy. A litter of crippled or dying horses marked +their track, and a Krupp gun was found abandoned by the drift. The +Dewetsdorp prisoners, too, had been set loose, and began to stumble +and stagger back to their countrymen, their boots worn off, and their +putties wrapped round their bleeding feet. It is painful to add that +they had been treated with a personal violence and a brutality in marked +contrast to the elaborate hospitality shown by the British Government to +its involuntary guests. + +On December 6th De Wet had at last reached the Orange River a clear day +in front of his pursuers. But it was only to find that his labours had +been in vain. At Odendaal, where he had hoped to cross, the river was in +spate, the British flag waved from a post upon the further side, and a +strong force of expectant Guardsmen eagerly awaited him there. Instantly +recognising that the game was up, the Boer leader doubled back for the +north and safety. At Rouxville he hesitated as to whether he should snap +up the small garrison, but the commandant, Rundle, showed a bold face, +and De Wet passed on to the Coomassie Bridge over the Caledon. The small +post there refused to be bluffed into a surrender, and the Boers, +still dropping their horses fast, passed on, and got over the drift +at Amsterdam, their rearguard being hardly across before Knox had also +reached the river. + +On the 10th the British were in touch again near Helvetia, where +there was a rearguard skirmish. On the 11th both parties rode +through Reddersberg, a few hours separating them. The Boers in +their cross-country trekking go, as one of their prisoners observed, +'slap-bang at everything,' and as they are past-masters in the art of ox +and mule driving, and have such a knowledge of the country that they can +trek as well by night as by day, it says much for the energy of Knox +and his men that he was able for a fortnight to keep in close touch with +them. + +It became evident now that there was not much chance of overtaking +the main body of the burghers, and an attempt was therefore made to +interpose a fresh force who might head them off. A line of posts existed +between Thabanchu and Ladybrand, and Colonel Thorneycroft was stationed +there with a movable column. It was Knox's plan therefore to prevent +the Boers from breaking to the west and to head them towards the Basuto +border. A small column under Parsons had been sent by Hunter from +Bloemfontein, and pushed in upon the flank of De Wet, who had on the +12th got back to Dewetsdorp. Again the pursuit became warm, but De Wet's +time was not yet come. He headed for Springhaan Nek, about fifteen miles +east of Thabanchu. This pass is about four miles broad, with a British +fort upon either side of it. There was only one way to safety, for +Knox's mounted infantrymen and lancers were already dotting the southern +skyline. Without hesitation the whole Boer force, now some 2500 strong, +galloped at full speed in open order through the Nek, braving the long +range fire of riflemen and guns. The tactics were those of French in +his ride to Kimberley, and the success was as complete. De Wet's force +passed through the last barrier which had been held against him, and +vanished into the mountainous country round Ficksburg, where it could +safely rest and refit. + +The result then of these bustling operations had been that De Wet and +his force survived, but that he had failed in his purpose of invading +the Colony, and had dropped some five hundred horses, two guns, and +about a hundred of his men. Haasbroek's commando had been detached by +De Wet to make a feint at another pass while he made his way through the +Springhaan. Parsons's force followed Haasbroek up and engaged him, but +under cover of night he was able to get away and to join his leader to +the north of Thabanchu. On December 13th, this, the second great chase +after De Wet, may be said to have closed. + + + +CHAPTER 31. THE GUERILLA WARFARE IN THE TRANSVAAL: NOOITGEDACHT. + +Leaving De Wet in the Ficksburg mountains, where he lurked until after +the opening of the New Year, the story of the scattered operations +in the Transvaal may now be carried down to the same point--a story +comprising many skirmishes and one considerable engagement, but so +devoid of any central thread that it is difficult to know how to +approach it. From Lichtenburg to Komati, a distance of four hundred +miles, there was sporadic warfare everywhere, attacks upon scattered +posts, usually beaten off but occasionally successful, attacks upon +convoys, attacks upon railway trains, attacks upon anything and +everything which could harass the invaders. Each General in his own +district had his own work of repression to perform, and so we had best +trace the doings of each up to the end of the year 1900. + +Lord Methuen after his pursuit of De Wet in August had gone to Mafeking +to refit. From that point, with a force which contained a large +proportion of yeomanry and of Australian bushmen, he conducted a long +series of operations in the difficult and important district which lies +between Rustenburg, Lichtenburg, and Zeerust. Several strong and mobile +Boer commandos with guns moved about in it, and an energetic though not +very deadly warfare raged between Lemmer, Snyman, and De la Rey on the +one side, and the troops of Methuen, Douglas, Broadwood, and Lord Errol +upon the other. Methuen moved about incessantly through the broken +country, winning small skirmishes and suffering the indignity of +continual sniping. From time to time he captured stores, wagons, +and small bodies of prisoners. Early in October he and Douglas had +successes. On the 15th Broadwood was engaged. On the 20th there was +a convoy action. On the 25th Methuen had a success and twenty-eight +prisoners. On November 9th he surprised Snyman and took thirty +prisoners. On the 10th he got a pom-pom. Early in this month Douglas +separated from Methuen, and marched south from Zeerust through +Ventersdorp to Klerksdorp, passing over a country which had been hardly +touched before, and arriving at his goal with much cattle and some +prisoners. Towards the end of the month a considerable stock of +provisions were conveyed to Zeerust, and a garrison left to hold that +town so as to release Methuen's column for service elsewhere. + +Hart's sphere of action was originally round Potchefstroom. On September +9th he made a fine forced march to surprise this town, which had been +left some time before with an entirely inadequate garrison to fall into +the hands of the enemy. His infantry covered thirty-six and his cavalry +fifty-four miles in fifteen hours. The operation was a complete +success, the town with eighty Boers falling into his hands with little +opposition. On September 30th Hart returned to Krugersdorp, where, save +for one skirmish upon the Gatsrand on November 22nd, he appears to have +had no actual fighting to do during the remainder of the year. + +After the clearing of the eastern border of the Transvaal by the +movement of Pole-Carew along the railway line, and of Buller aided by +Ian Hamilton in the mountainous country to the north of it, there were +no operations of importance in this district. A guard was kept upon +the frontier to prevent the return of refugees and the smuggling of +ammunition, while General Kitchener, the brother of the Sirdar, broke +up a few small Boer laagers in the neighbourhood of Lydenburg. +Smith-Dorrien guarded the line at Belfast, and on two occasions, +November 1st and November 6th, he made aggressive movements against the +enemy. The first, which was a surprise executed in concert with Colonel +Spens of the Shropshires, was frustrated by a severe blizzard, which +prevented the troops from pushing home their success. The second was a +two days' expedition, which met with a spirited opposition, and demands +a fuller notice. + +This was made from Belfast, and the force, which consisted of about +fourteen hundred men, advanced south to the Komati River. The infantry +were Suffolks and Shropshires, the cavalry Canadians and 5th Lancers, +with two Canadian guns and four of the 84th battery. All day the Boer +snipers clung to the column, as they had done to French's cavalry in the +same district. Mere route marches without a very definite and adequate +objective appear to be rather exasperating than overawing, for so long +as the column is moving onwards the most timid farmer may be tempted +into long-range fire from the flanks or rear. The river was reached +and the Boers driven from a position which they had taken up, but their +signal fires brought mounted riflemen from every farm, and the retreat +of the troops was pressed as they returned to Belfast. There was all the +material for a South African Lexington. The most difficult of military +operations, the covering of a detachment from a numerous and aggressive +enemy, was admirably carried out by the Canadian gunners and dragoons +under the command of Colonel Lessard. So severe was the pressure that +sixteen of the latter were for a time in the hands of the enemy, +who attempted something in the nature of a charge upon the steadfast +rearguard. The movement was repulsed, and the total Boer loss would +appear to have been considerable, since two of their leaders, Commandant +Henry Prinsloo and General Joachim Fourie, were killed, while General +Johann Grobler was wounded. If the rank and file suffered in proportion +the losses must have been severe. The British casualties in the two +days amounted to eight killed and thirty wounded, a small total when +the arduous nature of the service is considered. The Canadians and +the Shropshires seem to have borne off the honours of these trying +operations. + +In the second week of October, General French, with three brigades of +cavalry (Dickson's, Gordon's, and Mahon's), started for a cross-country +ride from Machadodorp. Three brigades may seem an imposing force, but +the actual numbers did not exceed two strong regiments, or about 1500 +sabres in all. A wing of the Suffolk Regiment went with them. On October +13th Mahon's brigade met with a sharp resistance, and lost ten killed +and twenty-nine wounded. On the 14th the force entered Carolina. On the +16th they lost six killed and twenty wounded, and from the day that they +started until they reached Heidelberg on the 27th there was never a day +that they could shake themselves clear of their attendant snipers. The +total losses of the force were about ninety killed and wounded, but they +brought in sixty prisoners and a large quantity of cattle and stores. +The march had at least the effect of making it clear that the passage of +a column of troops encumbered with baggage through a hostile country is +an inefficient means for quelling a popular resistance. Light and mobile +parties acting from a central depot were in future to be employed, with +greater hopes of success. + +Some appreciable proportion of the British losses during this phase of +the war arose from railway accidents caused by the persistent tampering +with the lines. In the first ten days of October there were four such +mishaps, in which two Sappers, twenty-three of the Guards (Coldstreams), +and eighteen of the 66th battery were killed or wounded. On the +last occasion, which occurred on October 10th near Vlakfontein, the +reinforcements who came to aid the sufferers were themselves waylaid, +and lost twenty, mostly of the Rifle Brigade, killed, wounded, or +prisoners. Hardly a day elapsed that the line was not cut at some point. +The bringing of supplies was complicated by the fact that the Boer women +and children were coming more and more into refugee camps, where they +had to be fed by the British, and the strange spectacle was frequently +seen of Boer snipers killing or wounding the drivers and stokers of the +very trains which were bringing up food upon which Boer families were +dependent for their lives. Considering that these tactics were continued +for over a year, and that they resulted in the death or mutilation of +many hundreds of British officers and men, it is really inexplicable +that the British authorities did not employ the means used by all armies +under such circumstances--which is to place hostages upon the trains. A +truckload of Boers behind every engine would have stopped the practice +for ever. Again and again in this war the British have fought with the +gloves when their opponents used their knuckles. + +We will pass now to a consideration of the doings of General Paget, who +was operating to the north and north-east of Pretoria with a force which +consisted of two regiments of infantry, about a thousand horsemen, and +twelve guns. His mounted men were under the command of Plumer. In the +early part of November this force had been withdrawn from Warm Baths and +had fallen back upon Pienaar's River, where it had continual skirmishes +with the enemy. Towards the end of November, news having reached +Pretoria that the enemy under Erasmus and Viljoen were present in force +at a place called Rhenoster Kop, which is about twenty miles north of +the Delagoa Railway line and fifty miles north-east of the capital, +it was arranged that Paget should attack them from the south, while +Lyttelton from Middelburg should endeavour to get behind them. The force +with which Paget started upon this enterprise was not a very formidable +one. He had for mounted troops some Queensland, South Australian, New +Zealand, and Tasmanian Bushmen, together with the York, Montgomery, and +Warwick Yeomanry. His infantry were the 1st West Riding regiment +and four companies of the Munsters. His guns were the 7th and 38th +batteries, with two naval quick-firing twelve-pounders and some smaller +pieces. The total could not have exceeded some two thousand men. Here, +as at other times, it is noticeable that in spite of the two hundred +thousand soldiers whom the British kept in the field, the lines of +communication absorbed so many that at the actual point of contact they +were seldom superior and often inferior in numbers to the enemy. The +opening of the Natal and Delagoa lines though valuable in many ways, had +been an additional drain. Where every culvert needs its picket and every +bridge its company, the guardianship of many hundreds of miles of rail +is no light matter. + +In the early morning of November 29th Paget's men came in contact with +the enemy, who were in some force upon an admirable position. A ridge +for their centre, a flanking kopje for their cross fire, and a grass +glacis for the approach--it was an ideal Boer battlefield. The colonials +and the yeomanry under Plumer on the left, and Hickman on the right, +pushed in upon them, until it was evident that they meant to hold their +ground. Their advance being checked by a very severe fire, the horsemen +dismounted and took such cover as they could. Paget's original idea had +been a turning movement, but the Boers were the more numerous body, and +it was impossible for the smaller British force to find their flanks, +for they extended over at least seven miles. The infantry were moved up +into the centre, therefore, between the wings of dismounted horsemen, +and the guns were brought up to cover the advance. The country was +ill-suited, however, to the use of artillery, and it was only possible +to use an indirect fire from under a curve of the grass land. The guns +made good practice, however, one section of the 38th battery being in +action all day within 800 yards of the Boer line, and putting themselves +out of action after 300 rounds by the destruction of their own rifling. +Once over the curve every yard of the veld was commanded by the hidden +riflemen. The infantry advanced, but could make no headway against the +deadly fire which met them. By short rushes the attack managed to get +within 300 yards of the enemy, and there it stuck. On the right the +Munsters carried a detached kopje which was in front of them, but +could do little to aid the main attack. Nothing could have exceeded +the tenacity of the Yorkshiremen and the New Zealanders, who were +immediately to their left. Though unable to advance they refused to +retire, and indeed they were in a position from which a retirement would +have been a serious operation. Colonel Lloyd of the West Ridings was hit +in three places and killed. Five out of six officers of the New Zealand +corps were struck down. There were no reserves to give a fresh impetus +to the attack, and the thin scattered line, behind bullet-spotted stones +or anthills, could but hold its own while the sun sank slowly upon a +day which will not be forgotten by those who endured it. The Boers were +reinforced in the afternoon, and the pressure became so severe that the +field guns were retired with much difficulty. Many of the infantry had +shot away all their cartridges and were helpless. Just one year before +British soldiers had lain under similar circumstances on the plain which +leads to Modder River, and now on a smaller scale the very same drama +was being enacted. Gradually the violet haze of evening deepened into +darkness, and the incessant rattle of the rifle fire died away on either +side. Again, as at Modder River, the British infantry still lay in their +position, determined to take no backward step, and again the Boers stole +away in the night, leaving the ridge which they had defended so well. +A hundred killed and wounded was the price paid by the British for that +line of rock studded hills--a heavier proportion of losses than had +befallen Lord Methuen in the corresponding action. Of the Boer losses +there was as usual no means of judging, but several grave-mounds, newly +dug, showed that they also had something to deplore. Their retreat, +however, was not due to exhaustion, but to the demonstration which +Lyttelton had been able to make in their rear. The gunners and the +infantry had all done well in a most trying action, but by common +consent it was with the men from New Zealand that the honours lay. +It was no empty compliment when Sir Alfred Milner telegraphed to the +Premier of New Zealand his congratulations upon the distinguished +behaviour of his fellow countrymen. + +From this time onwards there was nothing of importance in this part of +the seat of war. + +It is necessary now to turn from the north-east to the north-west of +Pretoria, where the presence of De la Rey and the cover afforded by the +Magaliesberg mountains had kept alive the Boer resistance. Very rugged +lines of hill, alternating with fertile valleys, afforded a succession +of forts and of granaries to the army which held them. To General +Clements' column had been committed the task of clearing this difficult +piece of country. His force fluctuated in numbers, but does not appear +at any time to have consisted of more than three thousand men, which +comprised the Border Regiment, the Yorkshire Light Infantry, the second +Northumberland Fusiliers, mounted infantry, yeomanry, the 8th R.F.A., P +battery R.H.A., and one heavy gun. With this small army he moved about +the district, breaking up Boer bands, capturing supplies, and bringing +in refugees. On November 13th he was at Krugersdorp, the southern +extremity of his beat. On the 24th he was moving north again, and found +himself as he approached the hills in the presence of a force of Boers +with cannon. This was the redoubtable De la Rey, who sometimes operated +in Methuen's country to the north of the Magaliesberg, and sometimes +to the south. He had now apparently fixed upon Clements as his definite +opponent. De la Rey was numerically inferior, and Clements had no +difficulty in this first encounter in forcing him back with some loss. +On November 26th Clements was back at Krugersdorp again with cattle and +prisoners. In the early days of December he was moving northwards +once more, where a serious disaster awaited him. Before narrating the +circumstances connected with the Battle of Nooitgedacht there is one +incident which occurred in this same region which should be recounted. + +This consists of the determined attack made by a party of De la Rey's +men, upon December 3rd, on a convoy which was proceeding from Pretoria +to Rustenburg, and had got as far as Buffel's Hoek. The convoy was a +very large one, consisting of 150 wagons, which covered about three +miles upon the march. It was guarded by two companies of the West +Yorkshires, two guns of the 75th battery, and a handful of the Victoria +Mounted Rifles. The escort appears entirely inadequate when it is +remembered that these stores, which were of great value, were being +taken through a country which was known to be infested by the enemy. +What might have been foreseen occurred. Five hundred Boers suddenly rode +down upon the helpless line of wagons and took possession of them. The +escort rallied, however, upon a kopje, and, though attacked all day, +succeeded in holding their own until help arrived. They prevented the +Boers from destroying or carrying off as much of the convoy as was under +their guns, but the rest was looted and burned. The incident was a +most unfortunate one, as it supplied the enemy with a large quantity of +stores, of which they were badly in need. It was the more irritating +as it was freely rumoured that a Boer attack was pending; and there is +evidence that a remonstrance was addressed from the convoy before it +left Rietfontein to the General of the district, pointing out the danger +to which it was exposed. The result was the loss of 120 wagons and of +more than half the escort. The severity of the little action and the +hardihood of the defence are indicated by the fact that the small body +who held the kopje lost fifteen killed and twenty-two wounded, the +gunners losing nine out of fifteen. A relieving force appeared at the +close of the action, but no vigorous pursuit was attempted, although +the weather was wet and the Boers had actually carried away sixty loaded +wagons, which could only go very slowly. It must be confessed that from +its feckless start to its spiritless finish the story of the Buffel's +Hoek convoy is not a pleasant one to tell. + +Clements, having made his way once more to the Magaliesberg range, had +pitched his camp at a place called Nooitgedacht--not to be confused with +the post upon the Delagoa Railway at which the British prisoners had +been confined. Here, in the very shadow of the mountain, he halted +for five days, during which, with the usual insouciance of British +commanders, he does not seem to have troubled himself with any +entrenching. He knew, no doubt, that he was too strong for his opponent +De la Rey, but what he did not know, but might have feared, was that a +second Boer force might appear suddenly upon the scene and join with +De la Rey in order to crush him. This second Boer force was that of +Commandant Beyers from Warm Baths. By a sudden and skilful movement the +two united, and fell like a thunderbolt upon the British column, which +was weakened by the absence of the Border Regiment. The result was such +a reverse as the British had not sustained since Sanna's Post--a reverse +which showed that, though no regular Boer army might exist, still a +sudden coalition of scattered bands could at any time produce a force +which would be dangerous to any British column which might be taken at +a disadvantage. We had thought that the days of battles in this war +were over, but an action which showed a missing and casualty roll of 550 +proved that in this, as in so many other things, we were mistaken. + +As already stated, the camp of Clements lay under a precipitous cliff, +upon the summit of which he had placed four companies of the 2nd +Northumberland Fusiliers. This strong post was a thousand feet higher +than the camp. Below lay the main body of the force, two more companies +of fusiliers, four of Yorkshire Light Infantry, the 2nd Mounted +Infantry, Kitchener's Horse, yeomanry, and the artillery. The latter +consisted of one heavy naval gun, four guns of the 8th R.F.A., and P +battery R.H.A. The whole force amounted to about fifteen hundred men. + +It was just at the first break of dawn--the hour of fate in South +African warfare--that the battle began. The mounted infantry post +between the camp and the mountains were aware of moving figures in front +of them. In the dim light they could discern that they were clothed in +grey, and that they wore the broad-brimmed hats and feathers of some +of our own irregular corps. They challenged, and the answer was a +shattering volley, instantly returned by the survivors of the picket. So +hot was the Boer attack that before help could come every man save +one of the picket was on the ground. The sole survivor, Daley of the +Dublins, took no backward step, but continued to steadily load and fire +until help came from the awakened camp. There followed a savage conflict +at point blank-range. The mounted infantry men, rushing half clad to the +support of their comrades, were confronted by an ever-thickening swarm +of Boer riflemen, who had already, by working round on the flank, +established their favourite cross fire. Legge, the leader of the mounted +infantry, a hard little Egyptian veteran, was shot through the head, and +his men lay thick around him. For some minutes it was as hot a corner +as any in the war. But Clements himself had appeared upon the scene, and +his cool gallantry turned the tide of fight. An extension of the +line checked the cross fire, and gave the British in turn a flanking +position. Gradually the Boer riflemen were pushed back, until at last +they broke and fled for their horses in the rear. A small body were +cut off, many of whom were killed and wounded, while a few were taken +prisoners. + +This stiff fight of an hour had ended in a complete repulse of the +attack, though at a considerable cost. Both Boers and British had lost +heavily. Nearly all the staff were killed or wounded, though General +Clements had come through untouched. Fifty or sixty of both sides had +fallen. But it was noted as an ominous fact that in spite of shell fire +the Boers still lingered upon the western flank. Were they coming on +again? They showed no signs of it. And yet they waited in groups, and +looked up towards the beetling crags above them. What were they waiting +for? The sudden crash of a murderous Mauser fire upon the summit, with +the rolling volleys of the British infantry, supplied the answer. + +Only now must it have been clear to Clements that he was not dealing +merely with some spasmodic attack from his old enemy De la Rey, but that +this was a largely conceived movement, in which a force at least double +the strength of his own had suddenly been concentrated upon him. His +camp was still menaced by the men whom he had repulsed, and he could +not weaken it by sending reinforcements up the hill. But the roar of +the musketry was rising louder and louder. It was becoming clearer that +there was the main attack. It was a Majuba Hill action up yonder, a +thick swarm of skirmishers closing in from many sides upon a central +band of soldiers. But the fusiliers were hopelessly outnumbered, and +this rock fighting is that above all others in which the Boer has an +advantage over the regular. A helio on the hill cried for help. The +losses were heavy, it said, and the assailants numerous. The Boers +closed swiftly in upon the flanks, and the fusiliers were no match for +their assailants. Till the very climax the helio still cried that they +were being overpowered, and it is said that even while working it +the soldier in charge was hurled over the cliff by the onrush of the +victorious Boers. + +The fight of the mounted infantry men had been at half-past four. At +six the attack upon the hill had developed, and Clements in response +to those frantic flashes of light had sent up a hundred men of the +yeomanry, from the Fife and Devon squadrons, as a reinforcement. To +climb a precipitous thousand feet with rifle, bandolier, and spurs, is +no easy feat, yet that roar of battle above them heartened them upon +their way. But in spite of all their efforts they were only in time +to share the general disaster. The head of the line of hard-breathing +yeomen reached the plateau just as the Boers, sweeping over the remnants +of the Northumberland Fusiliers, reached the brink of the cliff. One by +one the yeomen darted over the edge, and endeavoured to find some cover +in the face of an infernal point-blank fire. Captain Mudie of the staff, +who went first, was shot down. So was Purvis of the Fifes, who followed +him. The others, springing over their bodies, rushed for a small trench, +and tried to restore the fight. Lieutenant Campbell, a gallant young +fellow, was shot dead as he rallied his men. Of twenty-seven of the +Fifeshires upon the hill six were killed and eleven wounded. The +statistics of the Devons are equally heroic. Those yeomen who had not +yet reached the crest were in a perfectly impossible position, as the +Boers were firing from complete cover right down upon them. There was +no alternative for them but surrender. By seven o'clock every British +soldier upon the hill, yeoman or fusilier, had been killed, wounded, +or taken. It is not true that the supply of cartridges ran out, and the +fusiliers, with the ill-luck which has pursued the 2nd battalion, were +outnumbered and outfought by better skirmishers than themselves. + +Seldom has a General found himself in a more trying position than +Clements, or extricated himself more honourably. Not only had he lost +nearly half his force, but his camp was no longer tenable, and his whole +army was commanded by the fringe of deadly rifles upon the cliff. From +the berg to the camp was from 800 to 1000 yards, and a sleet of bullets +whistled down upon it. How severe was the fire may be gauged from the +fact that the little pet monkey belonging to the yeomanry--a small +enough object--was hit three times, though he lived to survive as +a battle-scarred veteran. Those wounded in the early action found +themselves in a terrible position, laid out in the open under a +withering fire, 'like helpless Aunt Sallies,' as one of them described +it. 'We must get a red flag up, or we shall be blown off the face of the +earth,' says the same correspondent, a corporal of the Ceylon Mounted +Infantry. 'We had a pillow-case, but no red paint. Then we saw what +would do instead, so they made the upright with my blood, and the +horizontal with Paul's.' It is pleasant to add that this grim flag was +respected by the Boers. Bullocks and mules fell in heaps, and it was +evident that the question was not whether the battle could be restored, +but whether the guns could be saved. Leaving a fringe of yeomen, mounted +infantry, and Kitchener's Horse to stave off the Boers, who were already +descending by the same steep kloof up which the yeomen had climbed, the +General bent all his efforts to getting the big naval gun out of danger. +Only six oxen were left out of a team of forty, and so desperate did +the situation appear that twice dynamite was placed beneath the gun to +destroy it. Each time, however, the General intervened, and at last, +under a stimulating rain of pom-pom shells, the great cannon lurched +slowly forward, quickening its pace as the men pulled on the drag-ropes, +and the six oxen broke into a wheezy canter. Its retreat was covered by +the smaller guns which rained shrapnel upon the crest of the hill, and +upon the Boers who were descending to the camp. Once the big gun was out +of danger, the others limbered up and followed, their rear still covered +by the staunch mounted infantry, with whom rest all the honours of the +battle. Cookson and Brooks with 250 men stood for hours between Clements +and absolute disaster. The camp was abandoned as it stood, and all the +stores, four hundred picketed horses, and, most serious of all, two +wagons of ammunition, fell into the hands of the victors. To have saved +all his guns, however, after the destruction of half his force by an +active enemy far superior to him in numbers and in mobility, was a feat +which goes far to condone the disaster, and to increase rather than to +impair the confidence which his troops feel in General Clements. Having +retreated for a couple of miles he turned his big gun round upon the +hill, which is called Yeomanry Hill, and opened fire upon the camp, +which was being looted by swarms of Boers. So bold a face did he present +that he was able to remain with his crippled force upon Yeomanry Hill +from about nine until four in the afternoon, and no attack was pressed +home, though he lay under both shell and rifle fire all day. At four +in the afternoon he began his retreat, which did not cease till he had +reached Rietfontein, twenty miles off, at six o'clock upon the following +morning. His weary men had been working for twenty-six hours, and +actually fighting for fourteen, but the bitterness of defeat was +alleviated by the feeling that every man, from the General downwards, +had done all that was possible, and that there was every prospect of +their having a chance before long of getting their own back. + +The British losses at the battle of Nooitgedacht amounted to 60 killed, +180 wounded, and 315 prisoners, all of whom were delivered up a few days +later at Rustenburg. Of the Boer losses it is, as usual, impossible +to speak with confidence, but all the evidence points to their actual +casualties being as heavy as those of the British. There was the long +struggle at the camp in which they were heavily punished, the fight on +the mountain, where they exposed themselves with unusual recklessness, +and the final shelling from shrapnel and from lyddite. All accounts +agree that their attack was more open than usual. 'They were mowed down +in twenties that day, but it had no effect. They stood like fanatics,' +says one who fought against them. From first to last their conduct was +most gallant, and great credit is due to their leaders for the skilful +sudden concentration by which they threw their whole strength upon the +exposed force. Some eighty miles separate Warm Baths from Nooitgedacht, +and it seems strange that our Intelligence Department should have +remained in ignorance of so large a movement. + +General Broadwood's 2nd Cavalry Brigade had been stationed to the north +of Magaliesberg, some twelve miles westward of Clements, and formed +the next link in the long chain of British forces. Broadwood does not +appear, however, to have appreciated the importance of the engagement, +and made no energetic movement to take part in it. If Colvile is open +to the charge of having been slow to 'march upon the cannon' at Sanna's +Post, it might be urged that Broadwood in turn showed some want of +energy and judgment upon this occasion. On the morning of the 13th his +force could hear the heavy firing to the eastward, and could even see +the shells bursting on the top of the Magaliesberg. It was but ten or +twelve miles distant, and, as his Elswick guns have a range of +nearly five, a very small advance would have enabled him to make a +demonstration against the flank of the Boers, and so to relieve the +pressure upon Clements. It is true that his force was not large, but it +was exceptionally mobile. Whatever the reasons, no effective advance was +made by Broadwood. On hearing the result he fell back upon Rustenburg, +the nearest British post, his small force being dangerously isolated. + +Those who expected that General Clements would get his own back had not +long to wait. In a few days he was in the field again. The remains of +his former force had, however, been sent into Pretoria to refit, and +nothing remained of it save the 8th R.F.A. and the indomitable cow-gun +still pocked with the bullets of Nooitgedacht. He had also F battery +R.H.A., the Inniskillings, the Border regiment, and a force of mounted +infantry under Alderson. More important than all, however, was the +co-operation of General French, who came out from Pretoria to assist in +the operations. On the 19th, only six days after his defeat, Clements +found himself on the very same spot fighting some at least of the very +same men. This time, however, there was no element of surprise, and the +British were able to approach the task with deliberation and method. The +result was that both upon the 19th and 20th the Boers were shelled out +of successive positions with considerable loss, and driven altogether +away from that part of the Magaliesberg. Shortly afterwards General +Clements was recalled to Pretoria, to take over the command of the 7th +Division, General Tucker having been appointed to the military command +of Bloemfontein in the place of the gallant Hunter, who, to the regret +of the whole army, was invalided home. General Cunningham henceforward +commanded the column which Clements had led back to the Magaliesberg. + +Upon November 13th the first of a series of attacks was made upon the +posts along the Delagoa Railway line. These were the work of Viljoen's +commando, who, moving swiftly from the north, threw themselves upon the +small garrisons of Balmoral and of Wilge River, stations which are about +six miles apart. At the former was a detachment of the Buffs, and at +the latter of the Royal Fusiliers. The attack was well delivered, but +in each instance was beaten back with heavy loss to the assailants. A +picket of the Buffs was captured at the first rush, and the detachment +lost six killed and nine wounded. No impression was made upon the +position, however, and the double attack seems to have cost the Boers a +large number of casualties. + +Another incident calling for some mention was the determined attack made +by the Boers upon the town of Vryheid, in the extreme south-east of the +Transvaal near the Natal border. Throughout November this district had +been much disturbed, and the small British garrison had evacuated the +town and taken up a position on the adjacent hills. Upon December 11th +the Boers attempted to carry the trenches. The garrison of the town +appears to have consisted of the 2nd Royal Lancaster regiment, some five +hundred strong, a party of the Lancashire Fusiliers, 150 strong, and +fifty men of the Royal Garrison Artillery, with a small body of mounted +infantry. They held a hill about half a mile north of the town, and +commanding it. The attack, which was a surprise in the middle of the +night, broke upon the pickets of the British, who held their own in a +way which may have been injudicious but was certainly heroic. Instead +of falling back when seriously attacked, the young officers in charge of +these outposts refused to move, and were speedily under such a fire that +it was impossible to reinforce them. There were four outposts, under +Woodgate, Theobald, Lippert, and Mangles. The attack at 2.15 on a +cold dark morning began at the post held by Woodgate, the Boers coming +hand-to-hand before they were detected. Woodgate, who was unarmed at the +instant, seized a hammer, and rushed at the nearest Boer, but was struck +by two bullets and killed. His post was dispersed or taken. Theobald and +Lippert, warned by the firing, held on behind their sangars, and were +ready for the storm which burst over them. Lippert was unhappily killed, +and his ten men all hit or taken, but young Theobald held his own +under a heavy fire for twelve hours. Mangles also, the gallant son of +a gallant father, held his post all day with the utmost tenacity. The +troops in the trenches behind were never seriously pressed, thanks +to the desperate resistance of the outposts, but Colonel Gawne of the +Lancasters was unfortunately killed. Towards evening the Boers abandoned +the attack, leaving fourteen of their number dead upon the ground, from +which it may be guessed that their total casualties were not less than +a hundred. The British losses were three officers and five men killed, +twenty-two men wounded, and thirty men with one officer missing--the +latter being the survivors of those outposts which were overwhelmed by +the Boer advance. + +A few incidents stand out among the daily bulletins of snipings, +skirmishes, and endless marchings which make the dull chronicle of +these, the last months of the year 1900. These must be enumerated +without any attempt at connecting them. The first is the long-drawn-out +siege or investment of Schweizer-Renecke. This small village stands upon +the Harts River, on the western border of the Transvaal. It is not easy +to understand why the one party should desire to hold, or the other to +attack, a position so insignificant. From August 19th onwards it was +defended by a garrison of 250 men, under the very capable command of +Colonel Chamier, who handled a small business in a way which marks him +as a leader. The Boer force, which varied in numbers from five hundred +to a thousand, never ventured to push home an attack, for Chamier, fresh +from the experience of Kimberley, had taken such precautions that +his defences were formidable, if not impregnable. Late in September a +relieving force under Colonel Settle threw fresh supplies into the town, +but when he passed on upon his endless march the enemy closed in once +more, and the siege was renewed. It lasted for several months, until a +column withdrew the garrison and abandoned the position. + +Of all the British detachments, the two which worked hardest and +marched furthest during this period of the war was the 21st Brigade +(Derbyshires, Sussex, and Camerons) under General Bruce Hamilton, and +the column under Settle, which operated down the western border of the +Orange River Colony, and worked round and round with such pertinacity +that it was familiarly known as Settle's Imperial Circus. Much hard and +disagreeable work, far more repugnant to the soldier than the actual +dangers of war, fell to the lot of Bruce Hamilton and his men. With +Kroonstad as their centre they were continually working through the +dangerous Lindley and Heilbron districts, returning to the railway line +only to start again immediately upon a fresh quest. It was work for +mounted police, not for infantry soldiers, but what they were given to +do they did to the best of their ability. Settle's men had a similar +thankless task. From the neighbourhood of Kimberley he marched in +November with his small column down the border of the Orange River +Colony, capturing supplies and bringing in refugees. He fought one brisk +action with Hertzog's commando at Kloof, and then, making his way across +the colony, struck the railway line again at Edenburg on December 7th, +with a train of prisoners and cattle. + +Rundle also had put in much hard work in his efforts to control the +difficult district in the north-east of the Colony which had been +committed to his care. He traversed in November from north to south the +same country which he had already so painfully traversed from south to +north. With occasional small actions he moved about from Vrede to Reitz, +and so to Bethlehem and Harrismith. On him, as on all other commanders, +the vicious system of placing small garrisons in the various towns +imposed a constant responsibility lest they should be starved or +overwhelmed. + +The year and the century ended by a small reverse to the British arms +in the Transvaal. This consisted in the capture of a post at Helvetia +defended by a detachment of the Liverpool Regiment and by a 4.7 gun. +Lydenburg, being seventy miles off the railway line, had a chain of +posts connecting it with the junction at Machadodorp. These posts were +seven in number, ten miles apart, each defended by 250 men. Of these +Helvetia was the second. The key of the position was a strongly +fortified hill about three-quarters of a mile from the headquarter +camp, and commanding it. This post was held by Captain Kirke with forty +garrison artillery to work the big gun, and seventy Liverpool infantry. +In spite of the barbed-wire entanglements, the Boers most gallantly +rushed this position, and their advance was so rapid, or the garrison so +slow, that the place was carried with hardly a shot fired. Major Cotton, +who commanded the main lines, found himself deprived in an instant of +nearly half his force and fiercely attacked by a victorious and exultant +enemy. His position was much too extended for the small force at his +disposal, and the line of trenches was pierced and enfiladed at +many points. It must be acknowledged that the defences were badly +devised--little barbed wire, frail walls, large loopholes, and the +outposts so near the trenches that the assailants could reach them as +quickly as the supports. With the dawn Cotton's position was serious, +if not desperate. He was not only surrounded, but was commanded from Gun +Hill. Perhaps it would have been wiser if, after being wounded, he had +handed over the command to Jones, his junior officer. A stricken man's +judgement can never be so sound as that of the hale. However that may +be, he came to the conclusion that the position was untenable, and that +it was best to prevent further loss of life. Fifty of the Liverpools +were killed and wounded, 200 taken. No ammunition of the gun was +captured, but the Boers were able to get safely away with this +humiliating evidence of their victory. One post, under Captain Wilkinson +with forty men, held out with success, and harassed the enemy in their +retreat. As at Dewetsdorp and at Nooitgedacht, the Boers were unable +to retain their prisoners, so that the substantial fruits of their +enterprise were small, but it forms none the less one more of those +incidents which may cause us to respect our enemy and to be critical +towards ourselves. [Footnote: Considering that Major Stapelton Cotton +was himself wounded in three places during the action (one of these +wounds being in the head), he has had hard measure in being deprived +of his commission by a court-martial which sat eight months after the +event. It is to be earnestly hoped that there may be some revision of +this severe sentence.] + +In the last few months of the year some of those corps which had served +their time or which were needed elsewhere were allowed to leave the seat +of war. By the middle of November the three different corps of the City +Imperial Volunteers, the two Canadian contingents, Lumsden's Horse, the +Composite Regiment of Guards, six hundred Australians, A battery R.H.A., +and the volunteer companies of the regular regiments, were all homeward +bound. This loss of several thousand veteran troops before the war was +over was to be deplored, and though unavoidable in the case of volunteer +contingents, it is difficult to explain where regular troops are +concerned. Early in the new year the Government was compelled to send +out strong reinforcements to take their place. + +Early in December Lord Roberts also left the country, to take over the +duties of Commander-in-Chief. High as his reputation stood when, in +January, he landed at Cape Town, it is safe to say that it had been +immensely enhanced when, ten months later, he saw from the quarter-deck +of the 'Canada' the Table Mountain growing dimmer in the distance. He +found a series of disconnected operations, in which we were uniformly +worsted. He speedily converted them into a series of connected +operations in which we were almost uniformly successful. Proceeding +to the front at the beginning of February, within a fortnight he had +relieved Kimberley, within a month he had destroyed Cronje's force, and +within six weeks he was in Bloemfontein. Then, after a six weeks' halt +which could not possibly have been shortened, he made another of his +tiger leaps, and within a month had occupied Johannesburg and Pretoria. +From that moment the issue of the campaign was finally settled, and +though a third leap was needed, which carried him to Komatipoort, +and though brave and obstinate men might still struggle against +their destiny, he had done what was essential, and the rest, however +difficult, was only the detail of the campaign. A kindly gentleman, as +well as a great soldier, his nature revolted from all harshness, and a +worse man might have been a better leader in the last hopeless phases of +the war. He remembered, no doubt, how Grant had given Lee's army their +horses, but Lee at the time had been thoroughly beaten, and his men had +laid down their arms. A similar boon to the partially conquered Boers +led to very different results, and the prolongation of the war is +largely due to this act of clemency. At the same time political and +military considerations were opposed to each other upon the point, and +his moral position in the use of harsher measures is the stronger +since a policy of conciliation had been tried and failed. Lord Roberts +returned to London with the respect and love of his soldiers and of his +fellow-countrymen. A passage from his farewell address to his troops may +show the qualities which endeared him to them. + +'The service which the South African Force has performed is, I +venture to think, unique in the annals of war, inasmuch as it has been +absolutely almost incessant for a whole year, in some cases for more +than a year. There has been no rest, no days off to recruit, no going +into winter quarters, as in other campaigns which have extended over +a long period. For months together, in fierce heat, in biting cold, in +pouring rain, you, my comrades, have marched and fought without halt, +and bivouacked without shelter from the elements. You frequently have +had to continue marching with your clothes in rags and your boots +without soles, time being of such consequence that it was impossible +for you to remain long enough in one place to refit. When not engaged +in actual battle you have been continually shot at from behind kopjes +by invisible enemies to whom every inch of the country was familiar, +and who, from the peculiar nature of the country, were able to inflict +severe punishment while perfectly safe themselves. You have forced your +way through dense jungles, over precipitous mountains, through and over +which with infinite manual labour you have had to drag heavy guns +and ox-wagons. You have covered with almost incredible speed enormous +distances, and that often on very short supplies of food. You have +endured the sufferings inevitable in war to sick and wounded men far +from the base, without a murmur and even with cheerfulness.' + +The words reflect honour both upon the troops addressed and upon the man +who addressed them. From the middle of December 1900 Lord Kitchener took +over the control of the campaign. + + + +CHAPTER 32. THE SECOND INVASION OF CAPE COLONY. + +(DECEMBER 1900 TO APRIL 1901.) + +During the whole war the task of the British had been made very much +more difficult by the openly expressed sympathy with the Boers from +the political association known as the Afrikander Bond, which either +inspired or represented the views which prevailed among the great +majority of the Dutch inhabitants of Cape Colony. How strong was this +rebel impulse may be gauged by the fact that in some of the border +districts no less than ninety per cent of the voters joined the Boer +invaders upon the occasion of their first entrance into the Colony. It +is not pretended that these men suffered from any political grievances +whatever, and their action is to be ascribed partly to a natural +sympathy with their northern kinsmen, and partly to racial ambition and +to personal dislike to their British neighbours. The liberal British +policy towards the natives had especially alienated the Dutch, and had +made as well-marked a line of cleavage in South Africa as the slave +question had done in the States of the Union. + +With the turn of the war the discontent in Cape Colony became less +obtrusive, if not less acute, but in the later months of the year +1900 it increased to a degree which became dangerous. The fact of the +farm-burning in the conquered countries, and the fiction of outrages by +the British troops, raised a storm of indignation. The annexation of the +Republics, meaning the final disappearance of any Dutch flag from South +Africa, was a racial humiliation which was bitterly resented. The Dutch +papers became very violent, and the farmers much excited. The agitation +culminated in a conference at Worcester upon December 6th, at which some +thousands of delegates were present. It is suggestive of the Imperial +nature of the struggle that the assembly of Dutch Afrikanders was +carried out under the muzzles of Canadian artillery, and closely watched +by Australian cavalry. Had violent words transformed themselves into +deeds, all was ready for the crisis. + +Fortunately the good sense of the assembly prevailed, and the agitation, +though bitter, remained within those wide limits which a British +constitution permits. Three resolutions were passed, one asking that +the war be ended, a second that the independence of the Republics be +restored, and a third protesting against the actions of Sir Alfred +Milner. A deputation which carried these to the Governor received a +courteous but an uncompromising reply. Sir Alfred Milner pointed out +that the Home Government, all the great Colonies, and half the Cape +were unanimous in their policy, and that it was folly to imagine that +it could be reversed on account of a local agitation. All were agreed in +the desire to end the war, but the last way of bringing this about was +by encouraging desperate men to go on fighting in a hopeless cause. Such +was the general nature of the Governor's reply, which was, as might be +expected, entirely endorsed by the British Government and people. + +Had De Wet, in the operations which have already been described, evaded +Charles Knox and crossed the Orange River, his entrance into the Colony +would have been synchronous with the congress at Worcester, and the +situation would have become more acute. This peril was fortunately +averted. The agitation in the Colony suggested to the Boer leaders, +however, that here was an untouched recruiting ground, and that small +mobile invading parties might gather strength and become formidable. +It was obvious, also, that by enlarging the field of operations the +difficulties of the British Commander-in-chief would be very much +increased, and the pressure upon the Boer guerillas in the Republics +relaxed. Therefore, in spite of De Wet's failure to penetrate the +Colony, several smaller bands under less-known leaders were despatched +over the Orange River. With the help of the information and the supplies +furnished by the local farmers, these bands wandered for many months +over the great expanse of the Colony, taking refuge, when hard pressed, +among the mountain ranges. They moved swiftly about, obtaining remounts +from their friends, and avoiding everything in the nature of an action, +save when the odds were overwhelmingly in their favour. Numerous small +posts or patrols cut off, many skirmishes, and one or two railway +smashes were the fruits of this invasion, which lasted till the end of +the war, and kept the Colony in an extreme state of unrest during that +period. A short account must be given here of the movement and exploits +of these hostile bands, avoiding, as far as possible, that catalogue of +obscure 'fonteins' and 'kops' which mark their progress. + +The invasion was conducted by two main bodies, which shed off numerous +small raiding parties. Of these two, one operated on the western side +of the Colony, reaching the sea-coast in the Clanwilliam district, and +attaining a point which is less than a hundred miles from Cape Town. +The other penetrated even more deeply down the centre of the Colony, +reaching almost to the sea in the Mossel Bay direction. Yet the +incursion, although so far-reaching, had small effect, since the +invaders held nothing save the ground on which they stood, and won their +way, not by victory, but by the avoidance of danger. Some recruits were +won to their cause, but they do not seem at that time to have been more +than a few hundreds in number, and to have been drawn for the most part +from the classes of the community which had least to lose and least to +offer. + +The Western Boers were commanded by Judge Hertzog of the Free State, +having with him Brand, the son of the former president, and about twelve +hundred well-mounted men. Crossing the Orange River at Sand Drift, north +of Colesberg, upon December 16th, they paused at Kameelfontein to +gather up a small post of thirty yeomen and guardsmen under Lieutenant +Fletcher, the wellknown oar. Meeting with a stout resistance, and +learning that British forces were already converging upon them, they +abandoned the attack, and turning away from Colesberg they headed west, +cutting the railway line twenty miles to the north of De Aar. On the +22nd they occupied Britstown, which is eighty miles inside the border, +and on the same day they captured a small body of yeomanry who had been +following them. These prisoners were released again some days later. +Taking a sweep round towards Prieska and Strydenburg, they pushed south +again. At the end of the year Hertzog's column was 150 miles deep in the +Colony, sweeping through the barren and thinly-inhabited western lands, +heading apparently for Fraserburg and Beaufort West. + +The second column was commanded by Kritzinger, a burgher of Zastron, in +the Orange River Colony. His force was about 800 strong. Crossing +the border at Rhenoster Hoek upon December 16th, they pushed for +Burghersdorp, but were headed off by a British column. Passing through +Venterstad, they made for Steynsberg, fighting two indecisive skirmishes +with small British forces. The end of the year saw them crossing the +rail road at Sherburne, north of Rosmead Junction, where they captured a +train as they passed, containing some Colonial troops. At this time they +were a hundred miles inside the Colony, and nearly three hundred from +Hertzog's western column. + +In the meantime Lord Kitchener, who had descended for a few days to De +Aar, had shown great energy in organising small mobile columns which +should follow and, if possible, destroy the invaders. Martial law was +proclaimed in the parts of the Colony affected, and as the invaders +came further south the utmost enthusiasm was shown by the loyalists, +who formed themselves everywhere into town guards. The existing Colonial +regiments, such as Brabant's, the Imperial and South African Light +Horse--Thorneycroft's, Rimington's, and the others--had already been +brought up to strength again, and now two new regiments were added, +Kitchener's Bodyguard and Kitchener's Fighting Scouts, the latter being +raised by Johann Colenbrander, who had made a name for himself in the +Rhodesian wars. At this period of the war between twenty and thirty +thousand Cape colonists were under arms. Many of these were untrained +levies, but they possessed the martial spirit of the race, and they set +free more seasoned troops for other duties. + +It will be most convenient and least obscure to follow the movements of +the western force (Hertzog's), and afterwards to consider those of the +eastern (Kritzinger's). The opening of the year saw the mobile column of +Free Staters 150 miles over the border, pushing swiftly south over the +barren surface of the Karoo. It is a country of scattered farms and +scanty population; desolate plains curving upwards until they rise into +still more desolate mountain ranges. Moving in a very loose formation +over a wide front, the Boers swept southwards. On or about January 4th +they took possession of the small town of Calvinia, which remained their +headquarters for more than a month. From this point their roving bands +made their way as far as the seacoast in the Clanwilliam direction, for +they expected at Lambert's Bay to meet with a vessel with mercenaries +and guns from Europe. They pushed their outposts also as far as +Sutherland and Beaufort West in the south. On January 15th strange +horsemen were seen hovering about the line at Touws River, and the +citizens of Cape Town learned with amazement that the war had been +carried to within a hundred miles of their own doors. + +Whilst the Boers were making this daring raid a force consisting of +several mobile columns was being organised by General Settle to arrest +and finally to repel the western invasion. The larger body was under the +command of Colonel De Lisle, an officer who brought to the operations +of war the same energy and thoroughness with which he had made the polo +team of an infantry regiment the champions of the whole British Army. +His troops consisted of the 6th Mounted Infantry, the New South Wales +Mounted Infantry, the Irish Yeomanry, a section of R battery R.H.A., and +a pom-pom. With this small but mobile and hardy force he threw himself +in front of Hertzog's line of advance. On January 13th he occupied +Piquetburg, eighty miles south of the Boer headquarters. On the 23rd he +was at Clanwilliam, fifty miles south-west of them. To his right were +three other small British columns under Bethune, Thorneycroft, and +Henniker, the latter resting upon the railway at Matjesfontein, and the +whole line extending over 120 miles--barring the southern path to the +invaders. + +Though Hertzog at Calvinia and De Lisle at Clanwilliam were only fifty +miles apart, the intervening country is among the most broken and +mountainous in South Africa. Between the two points, and nearer to De +Lisle than to Hertzog, flows the Doorn River. The Boers advancing from +Calvinia came into touch with the British scouts at this point, and +drove them in upon January 21st. On the 28th De Lisle, having been +reinforced by Bethune's column, was able at last to take the initiative. +Bethune's force consisted mainly of Colonials, and included Kitchener's +Fighting Scouts, the Cape Mounted Police, Cape Mounted Rifles, Brabant's +Horse, and the Diamond Field Horse. At the end of January the +united forces of Bethune and of De Lisle advanced upon Calvinia. The +difficulties lay rather in the impassable country than in the resistance +of an enemy who was determined to refuse battle. On February 6th, after +a fine march, De Lisle and his men took possession of Calvinia, which +had been abandoned by the Boers. It is painful to add that during the +month that they had held the town they appear to have behaved with great +harshness, especially to the kaffirs. The flogging and shooting of a +coloured man named Esan forms one more incident in the dark story of the +Boer and his relations to the native. + +The British were now sweeping north on a very extended front. +Colenbrander had occupied Van Rhyns Dorp, to the east of Calvinia, while +Bethune's force was operating to the west of it. De Lisle hardly halted +at Calvinia, but pushed onwards to Williston, covering seventy-two +miles of broken country in forty-eight hours, one of the most amazing +performances of the war. Quick as he was, the Boers were quicker still, +and during his northward march he does not appear to have actually come +into contact with them. Their line of retreat lay through Carnarvon, and +upon February 22nd they crossed the railway line to the north of De Aar, +and joined upon February 26th the new invading force under De Wet, who +had now crossed the Orange River. De Lisle, who had passed over five +hundred miles of barren country since he advanced from Piquetburg, made +for the railway at Victoria West, and was despatched from that place on +February 22nd to the scene of action in the north. From all parts Boer +and Briton were concentrating in their effort to aid or to repel the +inroad of the famous guerilla. + +Before describing this attempt it would be well to trace the progress +of the eastern invasion (Kritzinger's), a movement which may be treated +rapidly, since it led to no particular military result at that time, +though it lasted long after Hertzog's force had been finally dissipated. +Several small columns, those of Williams, Byng, Grenfell, and Lowe, +all under the direction of Haig, were organised to drive back these +commandos; but so nimble were the invaders, so vast the distances and +so broken the country, that it was seldom that the forces came into +contact. The operations were conducted over a portion of the Colony +which is strongly Dutch in sympathy, and the enemy, though they do +not appear to have obtained any large number of recruits, were able to +gather stores, horses, and information wherever they went. + +When last mentioned Kritzinger's men had crossed the railway north of +Rosmead on December 30th, and held up a train containing some Colonial +troops. From then onwards a part of them remained in the Middelburg and +Graaf-Reinet districts, while part moved towards the south. On January +11th there was a sharp skirmish near Murraysburg, in which Byng's column +was engaged, at the cost of twenty casualties, all of Brabant's or the +South African Light Horse. On the 16th a very rapid movement towards the +south began. On that date Boers appeared at Aberdeen, and on the 18th at +Willowmore, having covered seventy miles in two days. Their long, thin +line was shredded out over 150 miles, and from Maraisburg, in the north, +to Uniondale, which is only thirty miles from the coast, there +was rumour of their presence. In this wild district and in that of +Oudtshoorn the Boer vanguard flitted in and out of the hills, Haig's +column striving hard to bring them to an action. So well-informed +were the invaders that they were always able to avoid the British +concentrations, while if a British outpost or patrol was left exposed +it was fortunate if it escaped disaster. On February 6th a small body +of twenty-five of the 7th King's Dragoon Guards and of the West +Australians, under Captain Oliver, were overwhelmed at Klipplaat, after +a very fine defence, in which they held their own against 200 Boers for +eight hours, and lost nearly fifty per cent of their number. On the 12th +a patrol of yeomanry was surprised and taken near Willowmore. + +The coming of De Wet had evidently been the signal for all the Boer +raiders to concentrate, for in the second week of February Kritzinger +also began to fall back, as Hertzog had done in the west, followed +closely by the British columns. He did not, however, actually join De +Wet, and his evacuation of the country was never complete, as was the +case with Hertzog's force. On the 19th Kritzinger was at Bethesda, with +Gorringe and Lowe at his heels. On the 23rd an important railway bridge +at Fish River, north of Cradock, was attacked, but the attempt was +foiled by the resistance of a handful of Cape Police and Lancasters. On +March 6th a party of Boers occupied the village of Pearston, capturing +a few rifles and some ammunition. On the same date there was a skirmish +between Colonel Parsons's column and a party of the enemy to the north +of Aberdeen. The main body of the invading force appears to have been +lurking in this neighbourhood, as they were able upon April 7th to +cut off a strong British patrol, consisting of a hundred Lancers and +Yeomanry, seventy-five of whom remained as temporary prisoners in +the hands of the enemy. With this success we may for the time leave +Kritzinger and his lieutenant, Scheepers, who commanded that portion of +his force which had penetrated to the south of the Colony. + +The two invasions which have been here described, that of Hertzog in the +west and of Kritzinger in the midlands, would appear in themselves to +be unimportant military operations, since they were carried out by +small bodies of men whose policy was rather to avoid than to overcome +resistance. Their importance, however, is due to the fact that they were +really the forerunners of a more important incursion upon the part of De +Wet. The object of these two bands of raiders was to spy out the land, +so that on the arrival of the main body all might be ready for that +general rising of their kinsmen in the Colony which was the last chance, +not of winning, but of prolonging the war. It must be confessed that, +however much their reason might approve of the Government under which +they lived, the sentiment of the Cape Dutch had been cruelly, though +unavoidably, hurt in the course of the war. The appearance of so popular +a leader as De Wet with a few thousand veterans in the very heart of +their country might have stretched their patience to the breaking-point. +Inflamed, as they were, by that racial hatred which had always +smouldered, and had now been fanned into a blaze by the speeches of +their leaders and by the fictions of their newspapers, they were ripe +for mischief, while they had before their eyes an object-lesson of the +impotence of our military system in those small bands who had kept the +country in a ferment for so long. All was propitious, therefore, for the +attempt which Steyn and De Wet were about to make to carry the war into +the enemy's country. + +We last saw De Wet when, after a long chase, he had been headed back +from the Orange River, and, winning clear from Knox's pursuit, had +in the third week of December passed successfully through the British +cordon between Thabanchu and Ladybrand. Thence he made his way to +Senekal, and proceeded, in spite of the shaking which he had had, to +recruit and recuperate in the amazing way which a Boer army has. There +is no force so easy to drive and so difficult to destroy. The British +columns still kept in touch with De Wet, but found it impossible +to bring him to an action in the difficult district to which he had +withdrawn. His force had split up into numerous smaller bodies, capable +of reuniting at a signal from their leader. These scattered bodies, +mobile as ever, vanished if seriously attacked, while keenly on the +alert to pounce upon any British force which might be overpowered before +assistance could arrive. Such an opportunity came to the commando led +by Philip Botha, and the result was another petty reverse to the British +arms. + +Upon January 3rd Colonel White's small column was pushing north, in +co-operation with those of Knox, Pilcher, and the others. Upon that date +it had reached a point just north of Lindley, a district which has never +been a fortunate one for the invaders. A patrol of Kitchener' s newly +raised bodyguard, under Colonel Laing, 120 strong, was sent forward to +reconnoitre upon the road from Lindley to Reitz. + +The scouting appears to have been negligently done, there being only +two men out upon each flank. The little force walked into one of those +horse-shoe positions which the Boers love, and learned by a sudden +volley from a kraal upon their right that the enemy was present in +strength. On attempting to withdraw it was instantly evident that the +Boers were on all sides and in the rear with a force which numbered at +least five to one. The camp of the main column was only four miles away, +however, and the bodyguard, having sent messages of their precarious +position, did all they could to make a defence until help could reach +them. Colonel Laing had fallen, shot through the heart, but found a +gallant successor in young Nairne, the adjutant. Part of the force had +thrown themselves, under Nairne and Milne, into a donga, which gave some +shelter from the sleet of bullets. The others, under Captain Butters, +held on to a ruined kraal. The Boers pushed the attack very rapidly, +however, and were soon able with their superior numbers to send a raking +fire down the donga, which made it a perfect death-trap. Still hoping +that the laggard reinforcements would come up, the survivors held +desperately on; but both in the kraal and in the donga their numbers +were from minute to minute diminishing. There was no formal surrender +and no white flag, for, when fifty per cent of the British were down, +the Boers closed in swiftly and rushed the position. Philip Botha, the +brother of the commandant, who led the Boers, behaved with courtesy and +humanity to the survivors; but many of the wounds were inflicted with +those horrible explosive and expansive missiles, the use of which among +civilised combatants should now and always be a capital offence. To +disable one's adversary is a painful necessity of warfare, but nothing +can excuse the wilful mutilation and torture which is inflicted by these +brutal devices. + +'How many of you are there?' asked Botha. 'A hundred,' said an officer. +'It is not true. There are one hundred and twenty. I counted you as you +came along.' The answer of the Boer leader shows how carefully the small +force had been nursed until it was in an impossible position. The margin +was a narrow one, however, for within fifteen minutes of the disaster +White's guns were at work. There may be some question as to whether the +rescuing force could have come sooner, but there can be none as to +the resistance of the bodyguard. They held out to the last cartridge. +Colonel Laing and three officers with sixteen men were killed, four +officers and twenty-two men were wounded. The high proportion of fatal +casualties can only be explained by the deadly character of the Boer +bullets. Hardly a single horse of the bodyguard was left unwounded, and +the profit to the victors, since they were unable to carry away their +prisoners, lay entirely in the captured rifles. It is worthy of record +that the British wounded were despatched to Heilbron without guard +through the Boer forces. That they arrived there unmolested is due +to the forbearance of the enemy and to the tact and energy of +Surgeon-Captain Porter, who commanded the convoy. + +Encouraged by this small success, and stimulated by the news that +Hertzog and Kritzinger had succeeded in penetrating the Colony without +disaster, De Wet now prepared to follow them. British scouts to the +north of Kroonstad reported horsemen riding south and east, sometimes +alone, sometimes in small parties. They were recruits going to swell +the forces of De Wet. On January 23rd five hundred men crossed the line, +journeying in the same direction. Before the end of the month, having +gathered together about 2500 men with fresh horses at the Doornberg, +twenty miles north of Winburg, the Boer leader was ready for one of his +lightning treks once more. On January 28th he broke south through the +British net, which appears to have had more meshes than cord. Passing +the Bloemfontein-Ladybrand line at Israel Poort he swept southwards, +with British columns still wearily trailing behind him, like honest +bulldogs panting after a greyhound. + +Before following him upon this new venture it is necessary to say a +few words about that peace movement in the Boer States to which some +allusion has already been made. On December 20th Lord Kitchener had +issued a proclamation which was intended to have the effect of affording +protection to those burghers who desired to cease fighting, but who were +unable to do so without incurring the enmity of their irreconcilable +brethren. 'It is hereby notified,' said the document, 'to all burghers +that if after this date they voluntarily surrender they will be allowed +to live with their families in Government laagers until such time as +the guerilla warfare now being carried on will admit of their returning +safely to their homes. All stock and property brought in at the time +of the surrender of such burghers will be respected and paid for if +requisitioned.' This wise and liberal offer was sedulously concealed +from their men by the leaders of the fighting commandos, but was largely +taken advantage of by those Boers to whom it was conveyed. Boer refugee +camps were formed at Pretoria, Johannesburg, Kroonstad, Bloemfontein, +Warrenton; and other points, to which by degrees the whole civil +population came to be transferred. It was the reconcentrado system of +Cuba over again, with the essential difference that the guests of +the British Government were well fed and well treated during their +detention. Within a few months the camps had 50,000 inmates. + +It was natural that some of these people, having experienced the +amenity of British rule, and being convinced of the hopelessness of the +struggle, should desire to convey their feelings to their friends and +relations in the field. Both in the Transvaal and in the Orange River +Colony Peace Committees were formed, which endeavoured to persuade their +countrymen to bow to the inevitable. A remarkable letter was published +from Piet de Wet, a man who had fought bravely for the Boer cause, to +his brother, the famous general. 'Which is better for the Republics,' +he asked, 'to continue the struggle and run the risk of total ruin as +a nation, or to submit? Could we for a moment think of taking back +the country if it were offered to us, with thousands of people to be +supported by a Government which has not a farthing?... Put passionate +feeling aside for a moment and use common-sense, and you will then agree +with me that the best thing for the people and the country is to +give in, to be loyal to the new government, and to get responsible +government...Should the war continue a few months longer the nation will +become so poor that they will be the working class in the country, and +disappear as a nation in the future... The British are convinced that +they have conquered the land and its people, and consider the matter +ended, and they only try to treat magnanimously those who are continuing +the struggle in order to prevent unnecessary bloodshed.' + +Such were the sentiments of those of the burghers who were in favour of +peace. Their eyes had been opened and their bitterness was transferred +from the British Government to those individual Britons who, partly from +idealism and partly from party passion, had encouraged them to their +undoing. But their attempt to convey their feelings to their countrymen +in the field ended in tragedy. Two of their number, Morgendaal and +Wessels, who had journeyed to De Wet's camp, were condemned to death by +order of that leader. In the case of Morgendaal the execution actually +took place, and seems to have been attended by brutal circumstances, the +man having been thrashed with a sjambok before being put to death. +The circumstances are still surrounded by such obscurity that it is +impossible to say whether the message of the peace envoys was to the +General himself or to the men under his command. In the former case the +man was murdered. In the latter the Boer leader was within his rights, +though the rights may have been harshly construed and brutally enforced. + +On January 29th, in the act of breaking south, De Wet's force, or a +portion of it, had a sharp brush with a small British column (Crewe's) +at Tabaksberg, which lies about forty miles north-east of Bloemfontein; +This small force, seven hundred strong, found itself suddenly in the +presence of a very superior body of the enemy, and had some difficulty +in extricating itself. A pom-pom was lost in this affair. Crewe fell +back upon Knox, and the combined columns made for Bloemfontein, whence +they could use the rails for their transport. De Wet meanwhile moved +south as far as Smithfield, and then, detaching several small bodies to +divert the attention of the British, he struck due west, and crossed the +track between Springfontein and Jagersfontein road, capturing the usual +supply train as he passed. On February 9th he had reached Phillipolis, +well ahead of the British pursuit, and spent a day or two in making his +final arrangements before carrying the war over the border. His force +consisted at this time of nearly 8000 men, with two 15-pounders, one +pom-pom, and one maxim. The garrisons of all the towns in the south-west +of the Orange River Colony had been removed in accordance with the +policy of concentration, so De Wet found himself for the moment in a +friendly country. + +The British, realising how serious a situation might arise should De Wet +succeed in penetrating the Colony and in joining Hertzog and Kritzinger, +made every effort both to head him off and to bar his return. General +Lyttelton at Naauwpoort directed the operations, and the possession of +the railway line enabled him to concentrate his columns rapidly at the +point of danger. On February 11th De Wet forded the Orange River at Zand +Drift, and found himself once more upon British territory. Lyttelton's +plan of campaign appears to have been to allow De Wet to come some +distance south, and then to hold him in front by De Lisle's force, +while a number of small mobile columns under Plumer, Crabbe, Henniker, +Bethune, Haig, and Thorneycroft should shepherd him behind. On crossing, +De Wet at once moved westwards, where, upon February 12th, Plumer's +column, consisting of the Queensland Mounted Infantry, the Imperial +Bushmen, and part of the King's Dragoon Guards, came into touch with his +rearguard. All day upon the 13th and 14th, amid terrific rain, Plumer's +hardy troopers followed close upon the enemy, gleaning a few ammunition +wagons, a maxim, and some prisoners. The invaders crossed the railway +line near Houtnek, to the north of De Aar, in the early hours of the +15th, moving upon a front of six or eight miles. Two armoured trains +from the north and the south closed in upon him as he passed, Plumer +still thundered in his rear, and a small column under Crabbe came +pressing from the south. This sturdy Colonel of Grenadiers had already +been wounded four times in the war, so that he might be excused if he +felt some personal as well as patriotic reasons for pushing a relentless +pursuit. On crossing the railroad De Wet turned furiously upon his +pursuers, and, taking an excellent position upon a line of kopjes rising +out of the huge expanse of the Karoo, he fought a stubborn rearguard +action in order to give time for his convoy to get ahead. He was hustled +off the hills, however, the Australian Bushmen with great dash carrying +the central kopje, and the guns driving the invaders to the westward. +Leaving all his wagons and his reserve ammunition behind him, the +guerilla chief struck north-west, moving with great swiftness, but +never succeeding in shaking off Plumer's pursuit. The weather continued, +however, to be atrocious, rain and hail falling with such violence +that the horses could hardly be induced to face it. For a week the two +sodden, sleepless, mud-splashed little armies swept onwards over the +Karoo. De Wet passed northwards through Strydenburg, past Hopetown, and +so to the Orange River, which was found to be too swollen with the +rains to permit of his crossing. Here upon the 23rd, after a march of +forty-five miles on end, Plumer ran into him once more, and captured +with very little fighting a fifteen-pounder, a pom-pom, and close on +to a hundred prisoners. Slipping away to the east, De Wet upon February +24th crossed the railroad again between Krankuil and Orange River +Station, with Thorneycroft's column hard upon his heels. The Boer leader +was now more anxious to escape from the Colony than ever he had been to +enter it, and he rushed distractedly from point to point, endeavouring +to find a ford over the great turbid river which cut him off from his +own country. Here he was joined by Hertzog's commando with a number of +invaluable spare horses. It is said also that he had been able to +get remounts in the Hopetown district, which had not been cleared--an +omission for which, it is to be hoped, someone has been held +responsible. The Boer ponies, used to the succulent grasses of the veld, +could make nothing of the rank Karoo, and had so fallen away that an +enormous advantage should have rested with the pursuers had ill luck +and bad management not combined to enable the invaders to renew their +mobility at the very moment when Plumer's horses were dropping dead +under their riders. + +The Boer force was now so scattered that, in spite of the advent of +Hertzog, De Wet had fewer men with him than when he entered the Colony. +Several hundreds had been taken prisoners, many had deserted, and a +few had been killed. It was hoped now that the whole force might be +captured, and Thorneycroft's, Crabbe's, Henniker's, and other columns +were closing swiftly in upon him, while the swollen river still barred +his retreat. There was a sudden drop in the flood, however; one ford +became passable, and over it, upon the last day of February, De Wet and +his bedraggled, dispirited commando escaped to their own country. There +was still a sting in his tail, however; for upon that very day a portion +of his force succeeded in capturing sixty and killing or wounding twenty +of Colenbrander's new regiment, Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. On the +other hand, De Wet was finally relieved upon the same day of all care +upon the score of his guns, as the last of them was most gallantly +captured by Captain Dallimore and fifteen Victorians, who at the same +time brought in thirty-three Boer prisoners. The net result of De +Wet's invasion was that he gained nothing, and that he lost about four +thousand horses, all his guns, all his convoy, and some three hundred of +his men. + +Once safely in his own country again, the guerilla chief pursued his way +northwards with his usual celerity and success. The moment that it +was certain that De Wet had escaped, the indefatigable Plumer, wiry, +tenacious man, had been sent off by train to Springfontein, while +Bethune's column followed direct. This latter force crossed the Orange +River bridge and marched upon Luckhoff and Fauresmith. At the latter +town they overtook Plumer, who was again hard upon the heels of De Wet. +Together they ran him across the Riet River and north to Petrusburg, +until they gave it up as hopeless upon finding that, with only fifty +followers, he had crossed the Modder River at Abram's Kraal. There they +abandoned the chase and fell back upon Bloemfontein to refit and prepare +for a fresh effort to run down their elusive enemy. + +While Plumer and Bethune were following upon the track of De Wet until +he left them behind at the Modder, Lyttelton was using the numerous +columns which were ready to his hand in effecting a drive up the +south-eastern section of the Orange River Colony. It was disheartening +to remember that all this large stretch of country had from April to +November been as peaceful and almost as prosperous as Kent or Yorkshire. +Now the intrusion of the guerilla bands, and the pressure put by them +upon the farmers, had raised the whole country once again, and the work +of pacification had to be set about once more, with harsher measures +than before. A continuous barrier of barbed-wire fencing had been +erected from Bloemfontein to the Basuto border, a distance of eighty +miles, and this was now strongly held by British posts. From the south +Bruce Hamilton, Hickman, Thorneycroft, and Haig swept upwards, stripping +the country as they went in the same way that French had done in the +Eastern Transvaal, while Pilcher's column waited to the north of the +barbed-wire barrier. It was known that Fourie, with a considerable +commando, was lurking in this district, but he and his men slipped at +night between the British columns and escaped. Pilcher, Bethune, and +Byng were able, however, to send in 200 prisoners and very great +numbers of cattle. On April 10th Monro, with Bethune's Mounted Infantry, +captured eighty fighting Boers near Dewetsdorp, and sixty more were +taken by a night attack at Boschberg. There is no striking victory to +record in these operations, but they were an important part of that +process of attrition which was wearing the Boers out and helping to +bring the war to an end. Terrible it is to see that barren countryside, +and to think of the depths of misery to which the once flourishing and +happy Orange Free State had fallen, through joining in a quarrel with a +nation which bore it nothing but sincere friendship and goodwill. With +nothing to gain and everything to lose, the part played by the Orange +Free State in this South African drama is one of the most inconceivable +things in history. Never has a nation so deliberately and so causelessly +committed suicide. + + + +CHAPTER 33. THE NORTHERN OPERATIONS FROM JANUARY TO APRIL, 1901. + +Three consecutive chapters have now given some account of the campaign +of De Wet, of the operations in the Transvaal up to the end of the year +1900, and of the invasion of Cape Colony up to April 1901. The present +chapter will deal with the events in the Transvaal from the beginning +of the new century. The military operations in that country, though +extending over a very large area, may be roughly divided into two +categories: the attacks by the Boers upon British posts, and the +aggressive sweeping movements of British columns. Under the first +heading come the attacks on Belfast, on Zuurfontein, on Kaalfontein, +on Zeerust, on Modderfontein, and on Lichtenburg, besides many minor +affairs. The latter comprises the operations of Babington and of +Cunningham to the west and south-west of Pretoria, those of Methuen +still further to the south-west, and the large movement of French in +the south-east. In no direction did the British forces in the field meet +with much active resistance. So long as they moved the gnats did not +settle; it was only when quiet that they buzzed about and occasionally +stung. + +The early days of January 1901 were not fortunate for the British arms, +as the check in which Kitchener's Bodyguard was so roughly handled, +near Lindley, was closely followed by a brisk action at Naauwpoort or +Zandfontein, near the Magaliesberg, in which De la Rey left his mark +upon the Imperial Light Horse. The Boer commandos, having been driven +into the mountains by French and Clements in the latter part of +December, were still on the look-out to strike a blow at any British +force which might expose itself. Several mounted columns had been formed +to scour the country, one under Kekewich, one under Gordon, and one +under Babington. The two latter, meeting in a mist upon the morning +of January 5th, actually turned their rifles upon each other, but +fortunately without any casualties resulting. A more deadly rencontre +was, however, awaiting them. + +A force of Boers were observed, as the mist cleared, making for a +ridge which would command the road along which the convoy and guns +were moving. Two squadrons (B and C) of the Light Horse were instantly +detached to seize the point. They do not appear to have realised that +they were in the immediate presence of the enemy, and they imagined that +the ground over which they were passing had been already reconnoitred +by a troop of the 14th Hussars. It is true that four scouts were thrown +forward, but as both squadrons were cantering there was no time for +these to get ahead. Presently C squadron, which was behind, was ordered +to close up upon the left of B squadron, and the 150 horsemen in one +long line swept over a low grassy ridge. Some hundreds of De la Rey's +men were lying in the long grass upon the further side, and their first +volley, fired at a fifty-yard range, emptied a score of saddles. +It would have been wiser, if less gallant, to retire at once in the +presence of a numerous and invisible enemy, but the survivors were +ordered to dismount and return the fire. This was done, but the hail of +bullets was terrific and the casualties were numerous. Captain Norman, +of C squadron, then retired his men, who withdrew in good order. B +squadron having lost Yockney, its brave leader, heard no order, so they +held their ground until few of them had escaped the driving sleet of +lead. Many of the men were struck three and four times. There was no +surrender, and the extermination of B company added another laurel, even +at a moment of defeat, to the regiment whose reputation was so grimly +upheld. The Boer victors walked in among the litter of stricken men +and horses. 'Practically all of them were dressed in khaki and had the +water-bottles and haversacks of our soldiers. One of them snatched a +bayonet from a dead man, and was about to despatch one of our wounded +when he was stopped in the nick of time by a man in a black suit, who, I +afterwards heard, was De la Rey himself...The feature of the action +was the incomparable heroism of our dear old Colonel Wools-Sampson.' +So wrote a survivor of B company, himself shot through the body. It was +four hours before a fresh British advance reoccupied the ridge, and by +that time the Boers had disappeared. Some seventy killed and wounded, +many of them terribly mutilated, were found on the scene of the +disaster. It is certainly a singular coincidence that at distant points +of the seat of war two of the crack irregular corps should have suffered +so severely within three days of each other. In each case, however, +their prestige was enhanced rather than lowered by the result. These +incidents tend, however, to shake the belief that scouting is better +performed in the Colonial than in the regular forces. + +Of the Boer attacks upon British posts to which allusion has been made, +that upon Belfast, in the early morning of January 7th, appears to have +been very gallantly and even desperately pushed. On the same date +a number of smaller attacks, which may have been meant simply as +diversions, were made upon Wonderfontein, Nooitgedacht, Wildfontein, +Pan, Dalmanutha, and Machadodorp. These seven separate attacks, +occurring simultaneously over sixty miles, show that the Boer forces +were still organised and under one effective control. The general object +of the operations was undoubtedly to cut Lord Roberts's communications +upon that side and to destroy a considerable section of the railway. + +The town of Belfast was strongly held by Smith-Dorrien, with 1750 +men, of which 1300 were infantry belonging to the Royal Irish, the +Shropshires, and the Gordons. The perimeter of defence, however, was +fifteen miles, and each little fort too far from its neighbour for +mutual support, though connected with headquarters by telephone. It +is probable that the leaders and burghers engaged in this very gallant +attack were in part the same as those concerned in the successful +attempt at Helvetia upon December 29th, for the assault was delivered +in the same way, at the same hour, and apparently with the same primary +object. This was to gain possession of the big 5-inch gun, which is as +helpless by night as it is formidable by day. At Helvetia they attained +their object and even succeeded not merely in destroying, but in +removing their gigantic trophy. At Belfast they would have performed the +same feat had it not been for the foresight of General Smith-Dorrien, +who had the heavy gun trundled back into the town every night. + +The attack broke first upon Monument Hill, a post held by Captain +Fosbery with eighty-three Royal Irish. Chance or treason guided the +Boers to the weak point of the wire entanglement and they surged into +the fort, where the garrison fought desperately to hold its own. There +was thick mist and driving rain; and the rush of vague and shadowy +figures amid the gloom was the first warning of the onslaught. The +Irishmen were overborne by a swarm of assailants, but they nobly upheld +their traditional reputation. Fosbery met his death like a gallant +gentleman, but not more heroically than Barry, the humble private, who, +surrounded by Boers, thought neither of himself nor of them, but smashed +at the maxim gun with a pickaxe until he fell riddled with bullets. Half +the garrison were on the ground before the post was carried. + +A second post upon the other side of the town was defended by Lieutenant +Marshall with twenty men, mostly Shropshires. For an hour they held out +until Marshall and nine out of his twelve Shropshires had been hit. Then +this post also was carried. + +The Gordon Highlanders held two posts to the southeast and to the +south-west of the town, and these also were vigorously attacked. Here, +however, the advance spent itself without result. In vain the Ermelo +and Carolina commandos stormed up to the Gordon pickets. They were blown +back by the steady fire of the infantry. One small post manned by twelve +Highlanders was taken, but the rest defied all attack. Seeing therefore +that his attempt at a coup-de-main was a failure, Viljoen withdrew his +men before daybreak. The Boer casualties have not been ascertained, but +twenty-four of their dead were actually picked up within the British +lines. The British lost sixty killed and wounded, while about as many +were taken prisoners. Altogether the action was a brisk and a gallant +one, of which neither side has cause to be ashamed. The simultaneous +attacks upon six other stations were none of them pressed home, and were +demonstrations rather than assaults. + +The attempts upon Kaalfontein and on Zuurfontein were both made in the +early morning of January 12th. These two places are small stations upon +the line between Johannesburg and Pretoria. It is clear that the Boers +were very certain of their own superior mobility before they ventured +to intrude into the very heart of the British position, and the result +showed that they were right in supposing that even if their attempt were +repulsed, they would still be able to make good their escape. Better +horsed, better riders, with better intelligence and a better knowledge +of the country, their ventures were always attended by a limited +liability. + +The attacks seem to have been delivered by a strong commando, said to +have been under the command of Beyers, upon its way to join the Boer +concentration in the Eastern Transvaal. They had not the satisfaction, +however, of carrying the garrison of a British post with them, for +at each point they were met by a stout resistance and beaten +off. Kaalfontein was garrisoned by 120 men of Cheshire under +Williams-Freeman, Zuurfontein by as many Norfolks and a small body of +Lincolns under Cordeaux and Atkinson. For six hours the pressure was +considerable, the assailants of Kaalfontein keeping up a brisk shell and +rifle fire, while those of Zuurfontein were without artillery. At the +end of that time two armoured trains came up with reinforcements and the +enemy continued his trek to the eastward. Knox 's 2nd cavalry brigade +followed them up, but without any very marked result. + +Zeerust and Lichtenburg had each been garrisoned and provisioned by Lord +Methuen before he carried his column away to the south-west, where much +rough and useful work awaited him. The two towns were at once invested +by the enemy, who made an attack upon each of them. That upon Zeerust, +on January 7th, was a small matter and easily repulsed. A more +formidable one was made on Lichtenburg, on March 3rd. The attack was +delivered by De la Rey, Smuts, and Celliers, with 1500 men, who galloped +up to the pickets in the early morning. The defenders were 600 in +number, consisting of Paget's Horse and three companies of the 1st +battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, a veteran regiment with +a long record of foreign service, not to be confused with that 2nd +battalion which was so severely handled upon several occasions. It was +well that it was so, for less sturdy material might have been overborne +by the vigour of the attack. As it was, the garrison were driven to +their last trench, but held out under a very heavy fire all day, and +next morning the Boers abandoned the attack. Their losses appear to have +been over fifty in number, and included Commandant Celliers, who was +badly wounded and afterwards taken prisoner at Warm Baths. The +brave garrison lost fourteen killed, including two officers of the +Northumberlands, and twenty wounded. + +In each of these instances the attacks by the Boers upon British posts +had ended in a repulse to themselves. They were more fortunate, however, +in their attempt upon Modderfontein on the Gatsrand at the end of +January. The post was held by 200 of the South Wales Borderers, +reinforced by the 59th Imperial Yeomanry, who had come in as escort to +a convoy from Krugersdorp. The attack, which lasted all day, was carried +out by a commando of 2000 Boers under Smuts, who rushed the position +upon the following morning. As usual, the Boers, who were unable to +retain their prisoners, had little to show for their success. The +British casualties, however, were between thirty and forty, mostly +wounded. + +On January 22nd General Cunninghame left Oliphant's Nek with a small +force consisting of the Border and Worcester Regiments, the 6th Mounted +Infantry, Kitchener's Horse, 7th Imperial Yeomanry, 8th R.F.A., and P +battery R.H.A. It had instructions to move south upon the enemy known to +be gathering there. By midday this force was warmly engaged, and found +itself surrounded by considerable bodies of De la Rey's burghers. That +night they camped at Middelfontein, and were strongly attacked in the +early morning. So menacing was the Boer attitude, and so formidable the +position, that the force was in some danger. Fortunately they were in +heliographic communication with Oliphant's Nek, and learned upon +the 23rd that Babington had been ordered to their relief. All day +Cunninghame's men were under a long-range fire, but on the 24th +Babington appeared, and the British force was successfully extricated, +having seventy-five casualties. This action of Middelfontein is +interesting as having been begun in Queen Victoria's reign, and ended in +that of Edward VII. + +Cunninghame's force moved on to Krugersdorp, and there, having heard of +the fall of the Modderfontein post as already described, a part of his +command moved out to the Gatsrand in pursuit of Smuts. It was found, +however, that the Boers had taken up a strong defensive position, and +the British were not numerous enough to push the attack. On February +3rd Cunninghame endeavoured to outflank the enemy with his small cavalry +force while pushing his infantry up in front, but in neither attempt did +he succeed, the cavalry failing to find the flank, while the infantry +were met with a fire which made further advance impossible. One company +of the Border Regiment found itself in such a position that the greater +part of it was killed, wounded, or taken. This check constituted the +action of Modderfontein. On the 4th, however, Cunningham, assisted by +some of the South African Constabulary, made his way round the flank, +and dislodged the enemy, who retreated to the south. A few days later +some of Smuts's men made an attempt upon the railway near Bank, but +were driven off with twenty-six casualties. It was after this that Smuts +moved west and joined De la Rey's commando to make the attack already +described upon Lichtenburg. These six attempts represent the chief +aggressive movements which the Boers made against British posts in the +Transvaal during these months. Attacks upon trains were still common, +and every variety of sniping appears to have been rife, from the +legitimate ambuscade to something little removed from murder. + +It has been described in a previous chapter how Lord Kitchener made an +offer to the burghers which amounted to an amnesty, and how a number +of those Boers who had come under the influence of the British formed +themselves into peace committees, and endeavoured to convey to the +fighting commandos some information as to the hopelessness of the +struggle, and the lenient mood of the British. Unfortunately these +well-meant offers appear to have been mistaken for signs of weakness +by the Boer leaders, and encouraged them to harden their hearts. Of the +delegates who conveyed the terms to their fellow countrymen two at least +were shot, several were condemned to death, and few returned without +ill-usage. In no case did they bear back a favourable answer. The only +result of the proclamation was to burden the British resources by an +enormous crowd of women and children who were kept and fed in refugee +camps, while their fathers and husbands continued in most cases to +fight. + +This allusion to the peace movement among the burghers may serve as +an introduction to the attempt made by Lord Kitchener, at the end of +February 1901, to bring the war to a close by negotiation. Throughout +its course the fortitude of Great Britain and of the Empire had never +for an instant weakened, but her conscience had always been sensitive +at the sight of the ruin which had befallen so large a portion of South +Africa, and any settlement would have been eagerly hailed which would +insure that the work done had not been wasted, and would not need to +be done again. A peace on any other terms would simply shift upon the +shoulders of our descendants those burdens which we were not manly +enough to bear ourselves. There had arisen, as has been said, a +considerable peace movement among the burghers of the refugee camps and +also among the prisoners of war. It was hoped that some reflection of +this might be found among the leaders of the people. To find out if this +were so Lord Kitchener, at the end of February, sent a verbal message to +Louis Botha, and on the 27th of that month the Boer general rode with an +escort of Hussars into Middelburg. 'Sunburned, with a pleasant, fattish +face of a German type, and wearing an imperial,' says one who rode +beside him. Judging from the sounds of mirth heard by those without, the +two leaders seem to have soon got upon amiable terms, and there was hope +that a definite settlement might spring from their interview. From the +beginning Lord Kitchener explained that the continued independence of +the two republics was an impossibility. But on every other point the +British Government was prepared to go great lengths in order to satisfy +and conciliate the burghers. + +On March 7th Lord Kitchener wrote to Botha from Pretoria, recapitulating +the points which he had advanced. The terms offered were certainly as +far as, and indeed rather further than, the general sentiment of the +Empire would have gone. If the Boers laid down their arms there was to +be a complete amnesty, which was apparently to extend to rebels also so +long as they did not return to Cape Colony or Natal. Self-government was +promised after a necessary interval, during which the two States should +be administered as Crown colonies. Law courts should be independent +of the Executive from the beginning, and both languages be official. +A million pounds of compensation would be paid to the burghers--a most +remarkable example of a war indemnity being paid by the victors. Loans +were promised to the farmers to restart them in business, and a pledge +was made that farms should not be taxed. The Kaffirs were not to have +the franchise, but were to have the protection of law. Such were the +generous terms offered by the British Government. Public opinion at +home, strongly supported by that of the colonies, and especially of +the army, felt that the extreme step had been taken in the direction of +conciliation, and that to do more would seem not to offer peace, but +to implore it. Unfortunately, however, the one thing which the British +could not offer was the one thing which the Boers would insist upon +having, and the leniency of the proposals in all other directions may +have suggested weakness to their minds. On March 15th an answer was +returned by General Botha to the effect that nothing short of total +independence would satisfy them, and the negotiations were accordingly +broken off. + +There was a disposition, however, upon the Boer side to renew them, and +upon May 10th General Botha applied to Lord Kitchener for permission to +cable to President Kruger, and to take his advice as to the making +of peace. The stern old man at The Hague was still, however, in an +unbending mood. His reply was to the effect that there were great hopes +of a successful issue of the war, and that he had taken steps to make +proper provision for the Boer prisoners and for the refugee women. These +steps, and very efficient ones too, were to leave them entirely to the +generosity of that Government which he was so fond of reviling. + +On the same day upon which Botha applied for leave to use the British +cable, a letter was written by Reitz, State Secretary of the Transvaal, +to Steyn, in which the desperate condition of the Boers was clearly +set forth. This document explained that the burghers were continually +surrendering, that the ammunition was nearly exhausted, the food running +low, and the nation in danger of extinction. 'The time has come to take +the final step,' said the Secretary of State. Steyn wrote back a reply +in which, like his brother president, he showed a dour resolution to +continue the struggle, prompted by a fatalist conviction that some +outside interference would reverse the result of his appeal to arms. His +attitude and that of Kruger determined the Boer leaders to hold out for +a few more months, a resolution which may have been injudicious, but +was certainly heroic. 'It's a fight to a finish this time,' said the two +combatants in the 'Punch' cartoon which marked the beginning of the war. +It was indeed so, as far as the Boers were concerned. As the victors we +can afford to acknowledge that no nation in history has ever made a more +desperate and prolonged resistance against a vastly superior antagonist. +A Briton may well pray that his own people may be as staunch when their +hour of adversity comes round. + +The British position at this stage of the war was strengthened by a +greater centralisation. Garrisons of outlying towns were withdrawn so +that fewer convoys became necessary. The population was removed also and +placed near the railway lines, where they could be more easily fed. In +this way the scene of action was cleared and the Boer and British forces +left face to face. Convinced of the failure of the peace policy, and +morally strengthened by having tried it, Lord Kitchener set himself to +finish the war by a series of vigorous operations which should sweep the +country from end to end. For this purpose mounted troops were essential, +and an appeal from him for reinforcements was most nobly answered. Five +thousand horsemen were despatched from the colonies, and twenty thousand +cavalry, mounted infantry, and Yeomanry were sent from home. Ten +thousand mounted men had already been raised in Great Britain, South +Africa, and Canada for the Constabulary force which was being organised +by Baden-Powell. Altogether the reinforcements of horsemen amounted to +more than thirty-five thousand men, all of whom had arrived in South +Africa before the end of April. With the remains of his old regiments +Lord Kitchener had under him at this final period of the war between +fifty and sixty thousand cavalry--such a force as no British General in +his happiest dream had ever thought of commanding, and no British war +minister in his darkest nightmare had ever imagined himself called upon +to supply. + +Long before his reinforcements had come to hand, while his Yeomanry was +still gathering in long queues upon the London pavement to wait their +turn at the recruiting office, Lord Kitchener had dealt the enemy +several shrewd blows which materially weakened their resources in men +and material. The chief of these was the great drive down the Eastern +Transvaal undertaken by seven columns under the command of French. +Before considering this, however, a few words must be devoted to the +doings of Methuen in the south-west. + +This hard-working General, having garrisoned Zeerust and Lichtenburg, +had left his old district and journeyed with a force which consisted +largely of Bushmen and Yeomanry to the disturbed parts of Bechuanaland +which had been invaded by De Villiers. Here he cleared the country as +far as Vryburg, which he had reached in the middle of January, working +round to Kuruman and thence to Taungs. From Taungs his force crossed the +Transvaal border and made for Klerksdorp, working through an area which +had never been traversed and which contained the difficult Masakani +hills. He left Taungs upon February 2nd, fighting skirmishes at Uitval's +Kop, Paardefontein and Lilliefontein, in each of which the enemy was +brushed aside. Passing through Wolmaranstad, Methuen turned to the +north, where at Haartebeestefontein, on February 19th, he fought a brisk +engagement with a considerable force of Boers under De Villiers and +Liebenberg. On the day before the fight he successfully outwitted the +Boers, for, learning that they had left their laager in order to take +up a position for battle, he pounced upon the laager and captured 10,000 +head of cattle, forty-three wagons, and forty prisoners. Stimulated by +this success, he attacked the Boers next day, and after five hours of +hard fighting forced the pass which they were holding against him. As +Methuen had but 1500 men, and was attacking a force which was as large +as his own in a formidable position, the success was a very creditable +one. The Yeomanry all did well, especially the 5th and 10th battalions. +So also did the Australians and the Loyal North Lancashires. The British +casualties amounted to sixteen killed and thirty-four wounded, while +the Boers left eighteen of their dead upon the position which they had +abandoned. Lord Methuen's little force returned to Klerksdorp, having +deserved right well of their country. From Klerksdorp Methuen struck +back westwards to the south of his former route, and on March 14th +he was reported at Warrenton. Here also in April came Erroll's small +column, bringing with it the garrison and inhabitants of Hoopstad, a +post which it had been determined, in accordance with Lord Kitchener's +policy of centralisation, to abandon. + +In the month of January, 1901, there had been a considerable +concentration of the Transvaal Boers into that large triangle which is +bounded by the Delagoa railway line upon the north, the Natal railway +line upon the south, and the Swazi and Zulu frontiers upon the east. The +bushveld is at this season of the year unhealthy both for man and beast, +so that for the sake of their herds, their families, and themselves the +burghers were constrained to descend into the open veld. There seemed +the less objection to their doing so since this tract of country, +though traversed once both by Buller and by French, had still remained a +stronghold of the Boers and a storehouse of supplies. Within its borders +are to be found Carolina, Ermelo, Vryheid, and other storm centres. +Its possession offers peculiar strategical advantages, as a force lying +there can always attack either railway, and might even make, as was +indeed intended, a descent into Natal. For these mingled reasons of +health and of strategy a considerable number of burghers united in this +district under the command of the Bothas and of Smuts. + +Their concentration had not escaped the notice of the British military +authorities, who welcomed any movement which might bring to a focus that +resistance which had been so nebulous and elusive. Lord Kitchener having +once seen the enemy fairly gathered into this huge cover, undertook +the difficult task of driving it from end to end. For this enterprise +General French was given the chief command, and had under his orders +no fewer than seven columns, which started from different points of the +Delagoa and of the Natal railway lines, keeping in touch with each +other and all trending south and east. A glance at the map would show, +however, that it was a very large field for seven guns, and that it +would need all their alertness to prevent the driven game from +breaking back. Three columns started from the Delagoa line, namely, +Smith-Dorrien's from Wonderfontein (the most easterly), Campbell's from +Middelburg, and Alderson's from Eerstefabrieken, close to Pretoria. +Four columns came from the western railway line: General Knox's from +Kaalfontein, Major Allenby's from Zuurfontein (both stations between +Pretoria and Johannesburg), General Dartnell's from Springs, close to +Johannesburg, and finally General Colville (not to be confused with +Colvile) from Greylingstad in the south. The whole movement resembled a +huge drag net, of which Wonderfontein and Greylingstad formed the ends, +exactly one hundred miles apart. On January 27th the net began to be +drawn. Some thousands of Boers with a considerable number of guns were +known to be within the enclosure, and it was hoped that even if their +own extreme mobility enabled them to escape it would be impossible for +them to save their transport and their cannon. + +Each of the British columns was about 2000 strong, making a total of +14,000 men with about fifty guns engaged in the operations. A front of +not less than ten miles was to be maintained by each force. The first +decided move was on the part of the extreme left wing, Smith-Dorrien's +column, which moved south on Carolina, and thence on Bothwell near Lake +Chrissie. The arduous duty of passing supplies down from the line +fell mainly upon him, and his force was in consequence larger than the +others, consisting of 8500 men with thirteen guns. On the arrival of +Smith-Dorrien at Carolina the other columns started, their centre of +advance being Ermelo. Over seventy miles of veld the gleam of the helio +by day and the flash of the signal lamps at night marked the steady flow +of the British tide. Here and there the columns came in touch with the +enemy and swept him before them. French had a skirmish at Wilge River at +the end of January, and Campbell another south of Middelburg, in which +he had twenty casualties. On February 4th Smith-Dorrien was at Lake +Chrissie; French had passed through Bethel and the enemy was retiring on +Amsterdam. The hundred-mile ends of the drag net were already contracted +to a third of that distance, and the game was still known to be within +it. On the 5th Ermelo was occupied, and the fresh deep ruts upon the +veld told the British horsemen of the huge Boer convoy that was ahead of +them. For days enormous herds, endless flocks, and lines of wagons which +stretched from horizon to horizon had been trekking eastward. Cavalry +and mounted infantry were all hot upon the scent. + +Botha, however, was a leader of spirit, not to be hustled with impunity. +Having several thousand burghers with him, it was evident that if he +threw himself suddenly upon any part of the British line he might hope +for a time to make an equal fight, and possibly to overwhelm it. Were +Smith-Dorrien out of the way there would be a clear road of escape +for his whole convoy to the north, while a defeat of any of the other +columns would not help him much. It was on Smith-Dorrien, therefore, +that he threw himself with great impetuosity. That General's force +was, however, formidable, consisting of the Suffolks, West Yorks +and Camerons, 5th Lancers, 2nd Imperial Light Horse, and 3rd Mounted +Infantry, with eight field guns and three heavy pieces. Such a force +could hardly be defeated in the open, but no one can foresee the effect +of a night surprise well pushed home, and such was the attack delivered +by Botha at 3 A.M. upon February 6th, when his opponent was encamped at +Bothwell Farm. + +The night was favourable to the attempt, as it was dark and misty. +Fortunately, however, the British commander had fortified himself and +was ready for an assault. The Boer forlorn hope came on with a gallant +dash, driving a troop of loose horses in upon the outposts, and charging +forward into the camp. The West Yorkshires, however, who bore the brunt +of the attack, were veterans of the Tugela, who were no more to be +flurried at three in the morning than at three in the afternoon. The +attack was blown backwards, and twenty dead Boers, with their brave +leader Spruyt, were left within the British lines. The main body of the +Boers contented themselves with a heavy fusillade out of the darkness, +which was answered and crushed by the return fire of the infantry. In +the morning no trace, save their dead, was to be seen of the enemy, but +twenty killed and fifty wounded in Smith-Dorrien's column showed how +heavy had been the fire which had swept through the sleeping camp. +The Carolina attack, which was to have co-operated with that of the +Heidelbergers, was never delivered, through difficulties of the ground, +and considerable recriminations ensued among the Boers in consequence. + +Beyond a series of skirmishes and rearguard actions this attack of +Botha's was the one effort made to stay the course of French's columns. +It did not succeed, however, in arresting them for an hour. From that +day began a record of captures of men, herds, guns, and wagons, as the +fugitives were rounded up from the north, the west, and the south. The +operation was a very thorough one, for the towns and districts occupied +were denuded of their inhabitants, who were sent into the refugee camps +while the country was laid waste to prevent its furnishing the commandos +with supplies in the future. Still moving south-east, General French's +columns made their way to Piet Retief upon the Swazi frontier, pushing +a disorganised array which he computed at 5000 in front of them. A party +of the enemy, including the Carolina commando, had broken back in the +middle of February and Louis Botha had got away at the same time, but so +successful were his main operations that French was able to report +his total results at the end of the month as being 292 Boers killed or +wounded, 500 surrendered, 3 guns and one maxim taken, with 600 rifles, +4000 horses, 4500 trek oxen, 1300 wagons and carts, 24,000 cattle, and +165,000 sheep. The whole vast expanse of the eastern veld was dotted +with the broken and charred wagons of the enemy. + +Tremendous rains were falling and the country was one huge quagmire, +which crippled although it did not entirely prevent the further +operations. All the columns continued to report captures. On March 3rd +Dartnell got a maxim and 50 prisoners, while French reported 50 more, +and Smith-Dorrien 80. On March 6th French captured two more guns, and +on the 14th he reported 46 more Boer casualties and 146 surrenders, with +500 more wagons, and another great haul of sheep and oxen. By the end +of March French had moved as far south as Vryheid, his troops having +endured the greatest hardships from the continual heavy rains, and +the difficulty of bringing up any supplies. On the 27th he reported +seventeen more Boer casualties and 140 surrenders, while on the last +day of the month he took another gun and two pom-poms. The enemy at that +date were still retiring eastward, with Alderson and Dartnell pressing +upon their rear. On April 4th French announced the capture of the last +piece of artillery which the enemy possessed in that region. The rest +of the Boer forces doubled back at night between the columns and escaped +over the Zululand border, where 200 of them surrendered. The total +trophies of French's drive down the Eastern Transvaal amounted to eleven +hundred of the enemy killed, wounded, or taken, the largest number in +any operation since the surrender of Prinsloo. There is no doubt that +the movement would have been even more successful had the weather been +less boisterous, but this considerable loss of men, together with the +capture of all the guns in that region, and of such enormous quantities +of wagons, munitions, and stock, inflicted a blow upon the Boers from +which they never wholly recovered. On April 20th French was back in +Johannesburg once more. + +While French had run to earth the last Boer gun in the south-eastern +corner of the Transvaal, De la Rey, upon the western side, had still +managed to preserve a considerable artillery with which he flitted about +the passes of the Magaliesberg or took refuge in the safe districts to +the south-west of it. This part of the country had been several times +traversed, but had never been subdued by British columns. The Boers, +like their own veld grass, need but a few sparks to be left behind to +ensure a conflagration breaking out again. It was into this inflammable +country that Babington moved in March with Klerksdorp for his base. On +March 21st he had reached Haartebeestefontein, the scene not long before +of a successful action by Methuen. Here he was joined by Shekleton's +Mounted Infantry, and his whole force consisted of these, with the 1st +Imperial Light Horse, the 6th Imperial Bushmen, the New Zealanders, a +squadron of the 14th Hussars, a wing each of the Somerset Light Infantry +and of the Welsh Fusiliers, with Carter's guns and four pom-poms. With +this mobile and formidable little force Babington pushed on in search +of Smuts and De la Rey, who were known to be in the immediate +neighbourhood. + +As a matter of fact the Boers were not only there, but were nearer and +in greater force than had been anticipated. On the 22nd three squadrons +of the Imperial Light Horse under Major Briggs rode into 1500 of them, +and it was only by virtue of their steadiness and gallantry that +they succeeded in withdrawing themselves and their pom-pom without +a disaster. With Boers in their front and Boers on either flank they +fought an admirable rearguard action. So hot was the fire that A +squadron alone had twenty-two casualties. They faced it out, however, +until their gun had reached a place of safety, when they made an orderly +retirement towards Babington's camp, having inflicted as heavy a loss +as they had sustained. With Elandslaagte, Waggon Hill, the relief of +Mafeking, Naauwpoort, and Haartebeestefontein upon their standards, the +Imperial Light Horse, should they take a permanent place in the Army +List, will start with a record of which many older regiments might be +proud. + +If the Light Horse had a few bad hours on March 22nd at the hands of +the Boers, they and their colonial comrades were soon able to return the +same with interest. On March 23rd Babington moved forward through Kafir +Kraal, the enemy falling back before him. Next morning the British again +advanced, and as the New Zealanders and Bushmen, who formed the vanguard +under Colonel Gray, emerged from a pass they saw upon the plain in front +of them the Boer force with all its guns moving towards them. Whether +this was done of set purpose or whether the Boers imagined that the +British had turned and were intending to pursue them cannot now be +determined, but whatever the cause it is certain that for almost the +first time in the campaign a considerable force of each side found +themselves in the open and face to face. + +It was a glorious moment. Setting spurs to their horses, officers +and men with a yell dashed forward at the enemy. One of the Boer guns +unlimbered and attempted to open fire, but was overwhelmed by the wave +of horsemen. The Boer riders broke and fled, leaving their artillery to +escape as best it might. The guns dashed over the veld in a mad gallop, +but wilder still was the rush of the fiery cavalry behind them. For once +the brave and cool-headed Dutchmen were fairly panic-stricken. Hardly a +shot was fired at the pursuers, and the riflemen seem to have been only +too happy to save their own skins. Two field guns, one pom-pom, six +maxims, fifty-six wagons and 140 prisoners were the fruits of that one +magnificent charge, while fifty-four stricken Boers were picked up after +the action. The pursuit was reluctantly abandoned when the spent horses +could go no farther. + +While the vanguard had thus scattered the main body of the enemy a +detachment of riflemen had ridden round to attack the British rear and +convoy. A few volleys from the escort drove them off, however, with some +loss. Altogether, what with the loss of nine guns and of at least 200 +men, the rout of Haartebeestefontein was a severe blow to the Boer +cause. A week or two later Sir H. Rawlinson's column, acting with +Babington, rushed Smuts's laager at daylight and effected a further +capture of two guns and thirty prisoners. Taken in conjunction with +French's successes in the east and Plumer's in the north, these +successive blows might have seemed fatal to the Boer cause, but the +weary struggle was still destined to go on until it seemed that it must +be annihilation rather than incorporation which would at last bring a +tragic peace to those unhappy lands. + +All over the country small British columns had been operating during +these months--operations which were destined to increase in scope and +energy as the cold weather drew in. The weekly tale of prisoners and +captures, though small for any one column, gave the aggregate result of +a considerable victory. In these scattered and obscure actions there was +much good work which can have no reward save the knowledge of duty +done. Among many successful raids and skirmishes may be mentioned two by +Colonel Park from Lydenburg, which resulted between them in the +capture of nearly 100 of the enemy, including Abel Erasmus of sinister +reputation. Nor would any summary of these events be complete without a +reference to the very gallant defence of Mahlabatini in Zululand, which +was successfully held by a handful of police and civilians against an +irruption of the Boers. With the advent of winter and of reinforcements +the British operations became very energetic in every part of the +country, and some account of them will now be added. + + + +CHAPTER 34. THE WINTER CAMPAIGN (APRIL TO SEPTEMBER, 1901). + +The African winter extends roughly from April to September, and as the +grass during that period would be withered on the veld, the mobility +of the Boer commandos must be very much impaired. It was recognised +therefore that if the British would avoid another year of war it could +only be done by making good use of the months which lay before them. +For this reason Lord Kitchener had called for the considerable +reinforcements which have been already mentioned, but on the other +hand he was forced to lose many thousands of his veteran Yeomanry, +Australians, and Canadians, whose term of service was at an end. The +volunteer companies of the infantry returned also to England, and so +did nine militia battalions, whose place was taken however by an equal +number of new-comers. + +The British position was very much strengthened during the winter by the +adoption of the block-house system. These were small square or hexagonal +buildings, made of stone up to nine feet with corrugated iron above it. +They were loopholed for musketry fire and held from six to thirty men. +These little forts were dotted along the railways at points not more +than 2000 yards apart, and when supplemented by a system of armoured +trains they made it no easy matter for the Boers to tamper with or +to cross the lines. So effective did these prove that their use was +extended to the more dangerous portions of the country, and lines +were pushed through the Magaliesberg district to form a chain of posts +between Krugersdorp and Rustenburg. In the Orange River Colony and on +the northern lines of the Cape Colony the same system was extensively +applied. I will now attempt to describe the more important operations +of the winter, beginning with the incursion of Plumer into the untrodden +ground to the north. + +At this period of the war the British forces had overrun, if they had +not subdued, the whole of the Orange River Colony and every part of the +Transvaal which is south of the Mafeking-Pretoria-Komati line. Through +this great tract of country there was not a village and hardly a +farmhouse which had not seen the invaders. But in the north there +remained a vast district, two hundred miles long and three hundred +broad, which had hardly been touched by the war. It is a wild country, +scrub-covered, antelope-haunted plains rising into desolate hills, +but there are many kloofs and valleys with rich water meadows and lush +grazings, which formed natural granaries and depots for the enemy. Here +the Boer government continued to exist, and here, screened by their +mountains, they were able to organise the continuation of the struggle. +It was evident that there could be no end to the war until these last +centres of resistance had been broken up. + +The British forces had advanced as far north as Rustenburg in the west, +Pienaar in the centre, and Lydenburg in the east, but here they had +halted, unwilling to go farther until their conquests had been made good +behind them. A General might well pause before plunging his troops into +that vast and rugged district, when an active foe and an exposed line of +communication lay for many hundreds of miles to the south of them. But +Lord Kitchener with characteristic patience waited for the right hour to +come, and then with equally characteristic audacity played swiftly and +boldly for his stake. De Wet, impotent for the moment, had been hunted +back over the Orange River. French had harried the burghers in the +South-east Transvaal, and the main force of the enemy was known to be on +that side of the seat of war. The north was exposed, and with one long, +straight lunge to the heart, Pietersburg might be transfixed. + +There could only be one direction for the advance, and that must be +along the Pretoria to Pietersburg railroad. This is the only line of +rails which leads to the north, and as it was known to be in working +order (the Boers were running a bi-weekly service from Pietersburg to +Warm Baths), it was hoped that a swift advance might seize it before any +extensive damage could be done. With this object a small but very mobile +force rapidly assembled at the end of March at Pienaar River, which was +the British rail-head forty miles north of Pretoria and a hundred +and thirty from Pietersburg. This column consisted of the Bushveld +Carbineers, the 4th Imperial Bushmen's Corps, and the 6th New Zealand +contingent. With them were the 18th battery R.F.A., and three pom-poms. +A detachment of the invaluable mounted Sappers rode with the force, +and two infantry regiments, the 2nd Gordons and the Northamptons, +were detached to garrison the more vulnerable places upon the line of +advance. + +Upon March 29th the untiring Plumer, called off from the chase of De +Wet, was loosed upon this fresh line, and broke swiftly away to the +north. The complete success of his undertaking has obscured our estimate +of its danger, but it was no light task to advance so great a distance +into a bitterly hostile country with a fighting force of 2000 rifles. As +an enterprise it was in many ways not unlike Mahon's dash on Mafeking, +but without any friendly force with which to join hands at the end. +However from the beginning all went well. On the 30th the force had +reached Warm Baths, where a great isolated hotel already marks the site +of what will be a rich and fashionable spa. On April 1st the Australian +scouts rode into Nylstroom, fifty more miles upon their way. There had +been sufficient sniping to enliven the journey, but nothing which could +be called an action. Gleaning up prisoners and refugees as they went, +with the railway engineers working like bees behind them, the force +still swept unchecked upon its way. On April 5th Piet Potgietersrust +was entered, another fifty-mile stage, and on the morning of the 8th +the British vanguard rode into Pietersburg. Kitchener's judgment and +Plumer's energy had met with their reward. + +The Boer commando had evacuated the town and no serious opposition was +made to the British entry. The most effective resistance came from +a single schoolmaster, who, in a moment of irrational frenzy or of +patriotic exaltation, shot down three of the invaders before he met +his own death. Some rolling stock, one small gun, and something under a +hundred prisoners were the trophies of the capture, but the Boer arsenal +and the printing press were destroyed, and the Government sped off in +a couple of Cape carts in search of some new capital. Pietersburg was +principally valuable as a base from which a sweeping movement might be +made from the north at the same moment as one from the south-east. +A glance at the map will show that a force moving from this point in +conjunction with another from Lydenburg might form the two crooked claws +of a crab to enclose a great space of country, in which smaller +columns might collect whatever was to be found. Without an instant of +unnecessary delay the dispositions were made, and no fewer than eight +columns slipped upon the chase. It will be best to continue to follow +the movements of Plumer's force, and then to give some account of the +little armies which were operating from the south, with the results of +their enterprise. + +It was known that Viljoen and a number of Boers were within the district +which lies north of the line in the Middelburg district. An impenetrable +bush-veld had offered them a shelter from which they made their constant +sallies to wreck a train or to attack a post. This area was now to be +systematically cleared up. The first thing was to stop the northern line +of retreat. The Oliphant River forms a loop in that direction, and as it +is a considerable stream, it would, if securely held, prevent any escape +upon that side. With this object Plumer, on April 14th, the sixth day +after his occupation of Pietersburg, struck east from that town and +trekked over the veld, through the formidable Chunies Pass, and so +to the north bank of the Oliphant, picking up thirty or forty Boer +prisoners upon the way. His route lay through a fertile country dotted +with native kraals. Having reached the river which marked the line which +he was to hold, Plumer, upon April 17th, spread his force over many +miles, so as to block the principal drifts. The flashes of his helio +were answered by flash after flash from many points upon the southern +horizon. What these other forces were, and whence they came, must now be +made clear to the reader. + +General Bindon Blood, a successful soldier, had confirmed in the +Transvaal a reputation which he had won on the northern frontier of +India. He and General Elliot were two of the late comers who had been +spared from the great Eastern dependency to take the places of some of +those Generals who had returned to England for a well-earned rest. He +had distinguished himself by his systematic and effective guardianship +of the Delagoa railway line, and he was now selected for the supreme +control of the columns which were to advance from the south and sweep +the Roos-Senekal district. There were seven of them, which were arranged +as follows: + +Two columns started from Middelburg under Beatson and Benson, which +might be called the left wings of the movement. The object of Beatson's +column was to hold the drifts of the Crocodile River, while Benson's was +to seize the neighbouring hills called the Bothasberg. This it was +hoped would pin the Boers from the west, while Kitchener from Lydenburg +advanced from the east in three separate columns. Pulteney and Douglas +would move up from Belfast in the centre, with Dulstoom for their +objective. It was the familiar drag net of French, but facing north +instead of south. + +On April 13th the southern columns were started, but already the British +preparations had alarmed the Boers, and Botha, with his main commandos, +had slipped south across the line into that very district from which he +had been so recently driven. Viljoen's commando still remained to the +north, and the British troops, pouring in from every side, converged +rapidly upon it. The success of the operations was considerable, though +not complete. The Tantesberg, which had been the rallying-point of the +Boers, was occupied, and Roos-Senekal, their latest capital, was +taken, with their State papers and treasure. Viljoen, with a number of +followers, slipped through between the columns, but the greater part +of the burghers, dashing furiously about like a shoal of fish when they +become conscious of the net, were taken by one or other of the columns. +A hundred of the Boksburg commando surrendered en masse, fifty more were +taken at Roos-Senekal; forty-one of the formidable Zarps with Schroeder, +their leader, were captured in the north by the gallantry and wit of a +young Australian officer named Reid; sixty more were hunted down by +the indefatigable Vialls, leader of the Bushmen. From all parts of the +district came the same story of captures and surrenders. + +Knowing, however, that Botha and Viljoen had slipped through to the +south of the railway line, Lord Kitchener determined to rapidly transfer +the scene of the operations to that side. At the end of April, after a +fortnight's work, during which this large district was cropped, but +by no means shaved, the troops turned south again. The results of the +operation had been eleven hundred prisoners, almost the same number +as French had taken in the south-east, together with a broken Krupp, a +pom-pom, and the remains of the big naval gun taken from us at Helvetia. + +It was determined that Plumer's advance upon Pietersburg should not be +a mere raid, but that steps should be taken to secure all that he had +gained, and to hold the lines of communication. With this object the +2nd Gordon Highlanders and the 2nd Wiltshires were pushed up along +the railroad, followed by Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. These troops +garrisoned Pietersburg and took possession of Chunies Poort, and other +strategic positions. They also furnished escorts for the convoys +which supplied Plumer on the Oliphant River, and they carried out some +spirited operations themselves in the neighbourhood of Pietersburg. +Grenfell, who commanded the force, broke up several laagers, and +captured a number of prisoners, operations in which he was much assisted +by Colenbrander and his men. Finally the last of the great Creusot guns, +the formidable Long Toms, was found mounted near Haenertsburg. It was +the same piece which had in succession scourged Mafeking and Kimberley. +The huge gun, driven to bay, showed its powers by opening an effective +fire at ten thousand yards. The British galloped in upon it, the Boer +riflemen were driven off, and the gun was blown up by its faithful +gunners. So by suicide died the last of that iron brood, the four +sinister brothers who had wrought much mischief in South Africa. They +and their lesson will live in the history of modern artillery. + +The sweeping of the Roos-Senekal district being over, Plumer left his +post upon the River of the Elephants, a name which, like Rhenoster, +Zeekoe, Kameelfontein, Leeuw Kop, Tigerfontein, Elands River, and so +many more, serves as a memorial to the great mammals which once covered +the land. On April 28th the force turned south, and on May 4th they had +reached the railroad at Eerstefabrieken close to Pretoria. They had come +in touch with a small Boer force upon the way, and the indefatigable +Vialls hounded them for eighty miles, and tore away the tail of their +convoy with thirty prisoners. The main force had left Pretoria on +horseback on March 28th, and found themselves back once again upon foot +on May 5th. They had something to show, however, for the loss of their +horses, since they had covered a circular march of 400 miles, had +captured some hundreds of the enemy, and had broken up their last +organised capital. From first to last it was a most useful and +well-managed expedition. + +It is the more to be regretted that General Blood was recalled from his +northern trek before it had attained its full results, because those +operations to which he turned did not offer him any great opportunities +for success. Withdrawing from the north of the railway with his columns, +he at once started upon a sweep of that portion of the country which +forms an angle between the Delagoa line and the Swazi frontier--the +Barberton district. But again the two big fish, Viljoen and Botha, had +slipped away, and the usual collection of sprats was left in the net. +The sprats count also, however, and every week now telegrams were +reaching England from Lord Kitchener which showed that from three to +five hundred more burghers had fallen into our hands. Although the +public might begin to look upon the war as interminable, it had become +evident to the thoughtful observer that it was now a mathematical +question, and that a date could already be predicted by which the whole +Boer population would have passed into the power of the British. + +Among the numerous small British columns which were at work in different +parts of the country, in the latter half of May, there was one +under General Dixon which was operating in the neighbourhood of the +Magaliesberg Range. This locality has never been a fortunate one for the +British arms. The country is peculiarly mountainous and broken, and it +was held by the veteran De la Rey and a numerous body of irreconcilable +Boers. Here in July we had encountered a check at Uitval's Nek, in +December Clements had met a more severe one at Nooitgedacht, while +shortly afterwards Cunningham had been repulsed at Middelfontein, and +the Light Horse cut up at Naauwpoort. After such experiences one would +have thought that no column which was not of overmastering strength +would have been sent into this dangerous region, but General Dixon had +as a matter of fact by no means a strong force with him. With 1600 men +and a battery he was despatched upon a quest after some hidden guns +which were said to have been buried in those parts. + +On May 26th Dixon's force, consisting of Derbyshires, King's Own +Scottish Borderers, Imperial Yeomanry, Scottish Horse, and six guns +(four of 8th R.F.A. and two of 28th R.F.A.), broke camp at Naauwpoort +and moved to the west. On the 28th they found themselves at a place +called Vlakfontein, immediately south of Oliphant's Nek. On that +day there were indications that there were a good many Boers in the +neighbourhood. Dixon left a guard over his camp and then sallied out in +search of the buried guns. His force was divided into three parts, +the left column under Major Chance consisting of two guns of the 28th +R.F.A., 230 of the Yeomanry, and one company of the Derbys. The centre +comprised two guns (8th R.F. A.), one howitzer, two companies of the +Scottish Borderers and one of the Derbys; while the right was made up +of two guns (8th R.F.A. ), 200 Scottish Horse, and two companies of +Borderers. Having ascertained that the guns were not there, the force +about midday was returning to the camp, when the storm broke suddenly +and fiercely upon the rearguard. + +There had been some sniping during the whole morning, but no indications +of the determined attack which was about to be delivered. The force in +retiring upon the camp had become divided, and the rearguard consisted +of the small column under Major Chance which had originally formed the +left wing. A veld fire was raging on one flank of this rearguard, and +through the veil of smoke a body of five hundred Boers charged suddenly +home with magnificent gallantry upon the guns. We have few records of a +more dashing or of a more successful action in the whole course of the +war. So rapid was it that hardly any time elapsed between the glimpse +of the first dark figures galloping through the haze and the thunder +of their hoofs as they dashed in among the gunners. The Yeomanry were +driven back and many of them shot down. The charge of the mounted +Boers was supported by a very heavy fire from a covering party, and the +gun-detachments were killed or wounded almost to a man. The lieutenant +in charge and the sergeant were both upon the ground. So far as it is +possible to reconstruct the action from the confused accounts of excited +eye-witnesses and from the exceedingly obscure official report of +General Dixon, there was no longer any resistance round the guns, +which were at once turned by their captors upon the nearest British +detachment. + +The company of infantry which had helped to escort the guns proved +however to be worthy representatives of that historic branch of +the British service. They were northerners, men of Derbyshire and +Nottingham, the same counties which had furnished the brave militia who +had taken their punishment so gamely at Roodeval. Though hustled and +broken they re-formed and clung doggedly to their task, firing at the +groups of Boers who surrounded the guns. At the same time word had been +sent of their pressing need to the Scotch Borderers and the Scottish +Horse, who came swarming across the valley to the succour of their +comrades. Dixon had brought two guns and a howitzer into action, which +subdued the fire of the two captured pieces, and the infantry, Derbys +and Borderers, swept over the position, retaking the two guns and +shooting down those of the enemy who tried to stand. The greater number +vanished into the smoke, which veiled their retreat as it had their +advance. Forty-one of them were left dead upon the ground. Six officers +and fifty men killed with about a hundred and twenty wounded made up the +British losses, to which two guns would certainly have been added +but for the gallant counter-attack of the infantry. With Dargai and +Vlakfontein to their credit the Derbys have green laurels upon their +war-worn colours. They share them on this occasion with the Scottish +Borderers, whose volunteer company carried itself as stoutly as the +regulars. + +How is such an action to be summed up? To Kemp, the young Boer leader, +and his men belongs the credit of the capture of the guns; to the +British that of their recapture and of the final possession of the +field. The British loss was probably somewhat higher than that of the +Boers, but upon the other hand there could be no question as to which +side could afford loss the better. The Briton could be replaced, but +there were no reserves behind the fighting line of the Boers. + +There is one subject which cannot be ignored in discussing this battle, +however repugnant it may be. That is the shooting of some of the British +wounded who lay round the guns. There is no question at all about the +fact, which is attested by many independent witnesses. There is reason +to hope that some of the murderers paid for their crimes with their +lives before the battle was over. It is pleasant to add that there is at +least one witness to the fact that Boer officers interfered with threats +to prevent some of these outrages. It is unfair to tarnish the whole +Boer nation and cause on account of a few irresponsible villains, +who would be disowned by their own decent comrades. Very many--too +many--British soldiers have known by experience what it is to fall into +the hands of the enemy, and it must be confessed that on the whole +they have been dealt with in no ungenerous spirit, while the British +treatment of the Boers has been unexampled in all military history for +its generosity and humanity. That so fair a tale should be darkened by +such ruffianly outrages is indeed deplorable, but the incident is too +well authenticated to be left unrecorded in any detailed account of the +campaign. General Dixon, finding the Boers very numerous all round him, +and being hampered by his wounded, fell back upon Naauwpoort, which he +reached on June 1st. + +In May, Sir Bindon Blood, having returned to the line to refit, made yet +another cast through that thrice-harried belt of country which contains +Ermelo, Bethel, and Carolina, in which Botha, Viljoen, and the fighting +Boers had now concentrated. Working over the blackened veld he swung +round in the Barberton direction, and afterwards made a westerly +drive in conjunction with small columns commanded by Walter Kitchener, +Douglas, and Campbell of the Rifles, while Colville, Garnett, and +Bullock co-operated from the Natal line. Again the results were +disappointing when compared with the power of the instrument employed. +On July 5th he reached Springs, near Johannesburg, with a considerable +amount of stock, but with no great number of prisoners. The elusive +Botha had slipped away to the south and was reported upon the Zululand +border, while Viljoen had succeeded in crossing the Delagoa line and +winning back to his old lair in the district north of Middelburg, +from which he had been evicted in April. The commandos were like those +pertinacious flies which buzz upwards when a hand approaches them, but +only to settle again in the same place. One could but try to make the +place less attractive than before. + +Before Viljoen's force made its way over the line it had its revenge for +the long harrying it had undergone by a well-managed night attack, in +which it surprised and defeated a portion of Colonel Beatson's column +at a place called Wilmansrust, due south of Middelburg, and between +that town and Bethel. Beatson had divided his force, and this section +consisted of 850 of the 5th Victorian Mounted Rifles, with thirty +gunners and two pom-poms, the whole under the command of Major +Morris. Viljoen's force trekking north towards the line came upon this +detachment upon June 12th. The British were aware of the presence of the +enemy, but do not appear to have posted any extra outposts or taken any +special precautions. Long months of commando chasing had imbued them too +much with the idea that these were fugitive sheep, and not fierce and +wily wolves, whom they were endeavouring to catch. It is said that 700 +yards separated the four pickets. With that fine eye for detail which +the Boer leaders possess, they had started a veld fire upon the west of +the camp and then attacked from the east, so that they were themselves +invisible while their enemies were silhouetted against the light. +Creeping up between the pickets, the Boers were not seen until they +opened fire at point-blank range upon the sleeping men. The rifles were +stacked--another noxious military tradition--and many of the troopers +were shot down while they rushed for their weapons. Surprised out of +their sleep and unable to distinguish their antagonists, the brave +Australians did as well as any troops could have done who were placed in +so impossible a position. Captain Watson, the officer in charge of the +pom-poms, was shot down, and it proved to be impossible to bring the +guns into action. Within five minutes the Victorians had lost twenty +killed and forty wounded, when the survivors surrendered. It is +pleasant to add that they were very well treated by the victors, but +the high-spirited colonials felt their reverse most bitterly. 'It is the +worst thing that ever happened to Australia!' says one in the letter in +which he describes it. The actual number of Boers who rushed the camp +was only 180, but 400 more had formed a cordon round it. To Viljoen and +his lieutenant Muller great credit must be given for this well-managed +affair, which gave them a fresh supply of stores and clothing at a time +when they were hard pressed for both. These same Boer officers had +led the attack upon Helvetia where the 4.7 gun was taken. The +victors succeeded in getting away with all their trophies, and having +temporarily taken one of the blockhouses on the railway near Brugspruit, +they crossed the line in safety and returned, as already said, to their +old quarters in the north, which had been harried but not denuded by the +operations of General Blood. + +It would take a volume to catalogue, and a library to entirely describe +the movements and doings of the very large number of British columns +which operated over the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony during +this cold-weather campaign. If the same columns and the same leaders +were consistently working in the same districts, some system of +narrative might enable the reader to follow their fortunes, but they +were, as a matter of fact, rapidly transferred from one side of the +field of action to another in accordance with the concentrations of the +enemy. The total number of columns amounted to at least sixty, which +varied in number from two hundred to two thousand, and seldom hunted +alone. Could their movements be marked in red upon a chart, the whole +of that huge district would be criss-crossed, from Taungs to Komati +and from Touws River to Pietersburg, with the track of our weary but +indomitable soldiers. + +Without attempting to enter into details which would be unbecoming to +the modesty of a single volume, one may indicate what the other more +important groupings were during the course of these months, and which +were the columns that took part in them. Of French's drive in the +south-east, and of Blood's incursion into the Roos-Senekal district some +account has been given, and of his subsequent sweeping of the south. At +the same period Babington, Dixon, and Rawlinson were co-operating in the +Klerksdorp district, though the former officer transferred his services +suddenly to Blood's combination, and afterwards to Elliot's column in +the north of Orange River Colony. Williams and Fetherstonhaugh came +later to strengthen this Klerksdorp district, in which, after the +clearing of the Magaliesberg, De la Rey had united his forces to those +of Smuts. This very important work of getting a firm hold upon the +Magaliesberg was accomplished in July by Barton, Allenby, Kekewich, +and Lord Basing, who penetrated into the wild country and established +blockhouses and small forts in very much the same way as Cumberland +and Wade in 1746 held down the Highlands. The British position was much +strengthened by the firm grip obtained of this formidable stronghold +of the enemy, which was dangerous not only on account of its extreme +strength, but also of its proximity to the centres of population and of +wealth. + +De la Rey, as already stated, had gone down to the Klerksdorp district, +whence, for a time at least, he seems to have passed over into the +north of the Orange River Colony. The British pressure at Klerksdorp had +become severe, and thither in May came the indefatigable Methuen, whom +we last traced to Warrenton. From this point on May 1st he railed his +troops to Mafeking, whence he trekked to Lichtenburg, and south as far +as his old fighting ground of Haartebeestefontein, having one skirmish +upon the way and capturing a Boer gun. Thence he returned to Mafeking, +where he had to bid adieu to those veteran Yeomanry who had been his +comrades on so many a weary march. It was not their fortune to be +present at any of the larger battles of the war, but few bodies of +troops have returned to England with a finer record of hard and useful +service. + +No sooner, however, had Methuen laid down one weapon than he snatched +up another. Having refitted his men and collected some of the more +efficient of the new Yeomanry, he was off once more for a three weeks' +circular tour in the direction of Zeerust. It is difficult to believe +that the oldest inhabitant could have known more of the western side of +the Transvaal, for there was hardly a track which he had not traversed +or a kopje from which he had not been sniped. Early in August he had +made a fresh start from Mafeking, dividing his force into two columns, +the command of the second being given to Von Donop. Having joined hands +with Fetherstonhaugh, he moved through the south-west and finally +halted at Klerksdorp. The harried Boers moved a hundred miles north to +Rustenburg, followed by Methuen, Fetherstonhaugh, Hamilton, Kekewich, +and Allenby, who found the commandos of De la Rey and Kemp to be +scattering in front of them and hiding in the kloofs and dongas, whence +in the early days of September no less than two hundred were extracted. +On September 6th and 8th Methuen engaged the main body of De la Rey in +the valley of the Great Marico River which lies to the north-west of +Rustenburg. In these two actions he pushed the Boers in front of him +with a loss of eighteen killed and forty-one prisoners, but the fighting +was severe, and fifteen of his men were killed and thirty wounded before +the position had been carried. The losses were almost entirely among the +newly raised Yeomanry, who had already shown on several occasions that, +having shed their weaker members and had some experience of the field, +they were now worthy to take their place beside their veteran comrades. + +The only other important operation undertaken by the British columns in +the Transvaal during this period was in the north, where Beyers and +his men were still harried by Grenfell, Colenbrander, and Wilson. A +considerable proportion of the prisoners which figured in the weekly +lists came from this quarter. On May 30th there was a notable action, +the truth of which was much debated but finally established, in which +Kitchener's Scouts under Wilson surprised and defeated a Boer force +under Pretorius, killing and wounding several, and taking forty +prisoners. On July 1st Grenfell took nearly a hundred of Beyers' men +with a considerable convoy. North, south, east, and west the tale +was ever the same, but so long as Botha, De la Rey, Steyn, and De Wet +remained uncaptured, the embers might still at any instant leap into a +flame. + +It only remains to complete this synopsis of the movements of columns +within the Transvaal that I should add that after the conclusion of +Blood's movement in July, several of his columns continued to clear the +country and to harass Viljoen in the Lydenburg and Dulstroom districts. +Park, Kitchener, Spens, Beatson, and Benson were all busy at this +work, never succeeding in forcing more than a skirmish, but continually +whittling away wagons, horses, and men from that nucleus of resistance +which the Boer leaders still held together. + +Though much hampered by the want of forage for their horses, the Boers +were ever watchful for an opportunity to strike back, and the long list +of minor successes gained by the British was occasionally interrupted +by a petty reverse. Such a one befell the small body of South African +Constabulary stationed near Vereeniging, who encountered upon July 13th +a strong force of Boers supposed to be the main commando of De Wet. +The Constabulary behaved with great gallantry but were hopelessly +outnumbered, and lost their seven-pounder gun, four killed, six wounded, +and twenty-four prisoners. Another small reverse occurred at a far +distant point of the seat of war, for the irregular corps known as +Steinacker's Horse was driven from its position at Bremersdorp in +Swaziland upon July 24th, and had to fall back sixteen miles, with a +loss of ten casualties and thirty prisoners. Thus in the heart of a +native state the two great white races of South Africa were to be seen +locked in a desperate conflict. However unavoidable, the sight was +certainly one to be deplored. + +To the Boer credit, or discredit, are also to be placed those repeated +train wreckings, which cost the British during this campaign the lives +and limbs of many brave soldiers who were worthy of some less ignoble +fate. It is true that the laws of war sanction such enterprises, but +there is something indiscriminate in the results which is repellent to +humanity, and which appears to justify the most energetic measures to +prevent them. Women, children, and sick must all travel by these trains +and are exposed to a common danger, while the assailants enjoy a safety +which renders their exploit a peculiarly inglorious one. Two Boers, +Trichardt and Hindon, the one a youth of twenty-two, the other a man of +British birth, distinguished, or disgraced, themselves by this unsavoury +work upon the Delagoa line, but with the extension of the blockhouse +system the attempts became less successful. There was one, however, upon +the northern line near Naboomspruit which cost the lives of Lieutenant +Best and eight Gordon Highlanders, while ten were wounded. The party of +Gordons continued to resist after the smash, and were killed or wounded +to a man. The painful incident is brightened by such an example of +military virtue, and by the naive reply of the last survivor, who on +being questioned why he continued to fight until he was shot down, +answered with fine simplicity, 'Because I am a Gordon Highlander.' + +Another train disaster of an even more tragic character occurred near +Waterval, fifteen miles north of Pretoria, upon the last day of August. +The explosion of a mine wrecked the train, and a hundred Boers who +lined the banks of the cutting opened fire upon the derailed carriages. +Colonel Vandeleur, an officer of great promise, was killed and twenty +men, chiefly of the West Riding regiment, were shot. Nurse Page was also +among the wounded. It was after this fatal affair that the regulation of +carrying Boer hostages upon the trains was at last carried out. + +It has been already stated that part of Lord Kitchener's policy of +concentration lay in his scheme for gathering the civil population +into camps along the lines of communication. The reasons for this, both +military and humanitarian, were overwhelming. Experience had proved that +the men if left at liberty were liable to be persuaded or coerced by the +fighting Boers into breaking their parole and rejoining the commandos. +As to the women and children, they could not be left upon the farms in +a denuded country. That the Boers in the field had no doubts as to +the good treatment of these people was shown by the fact that they +repeatedly left their families in the way of the columns so that they +might be conveyed to the camps. Some consternation was caused in England +by a report of Miss Hobhouse, which called public attention to the very +high rate of mortality in some of these camps, but examination showed +that this was not due to anything insanitary in their situation or +arrangement, but to a severe epidemic of measles which had swept away +a large number of the children. A fund was started in London to give +additional comforts to these people, though there is reason to believe +that their general condition was superior to that of the Uitlander +refugees, who still waited permission to return to their homes. By the +end of July there were no fewer than sixty thousand inmates of the camps +in the Transvaal alone, and half as many in the Orange River Colony. So +great was the difficulty in providing the supplies for so large a number +that it became more and more evident that some at least of the camps +must be moved down to the sea coast. + +Passing to the Orange River Colony we find that during this winter +period the same British tactics had been met by the same constant +evasions on the part of the dwindling commandos. The Colony had been +divided into four military districts: that of Bloemfontein, which was +given to Charles Knox, that of Lyttelton at Springfontein, that of +Rundle at Harrismith, and that of Elliot in the north. The latter was +infinitely the most important, and Elliot, the warden of the northern +marches, had under him during the greater part of the winter a mobile +force of about 6000 men, commanded by such experienced officers as +Broadwood, De Lisle, and Bethune. Later in the year Spens, Bullock, +Plumer, and Rimington were all sent into the Orange River Colony to +help to stamp out the resistance. Numerous skirmishes and snipings +were reported from all parts of the country, but a constant stream of +prisoners and of surrenders assured the soldiers that, in spite of the +difficulty of the country and the obstinacy of the enemy, the term of +their labours was rapidly approaching. + +In all the petty and yet necessary operations of these columns, two +incidents demand more than a mere mention. The first was a hard-fought +skirmish in which some of Elliot's horsemen were engaged upon June +6th. His column had trekked during the month of May from Kroonstad to +Harrismith, and then turning north found itself upon that date near the +hamlet of Reitz. Major Sladen with 200 Mounted Infantry, when detached +from the main body, came upon the track of a Boer convoy and ran it +down. Over a hundred vehicles with forty-five prisoners were the fruits +of their enterprise. Well satisfied with his morning's work, the British +leader despatched a party of his men to convey the news to De Lisle, who +was behind, while he established himself with his loot and his prisoners +in a convenient kraal. Thence they had an excellent view of a large body +of horsemen approaching them with scouts, flankers, and all military +precautions. One warm-hearted officer seems actually to have sallied out +to meet his comrades, and it was not till his greeting of them took +the extreme form of handing over his rifle that the suspicion of danger +entered the heads of his companions. But if there was some lack of wit +there was none of heart in Sladen and his men. With forty-five Boers to +hold down, and 500 under Fourie, De Wet, and De la Rey around them, +the little band made rapid preparation for a desperate resistance: the +prisoners were laid upon their faces, the men knocked loopholes in the +mud walls of the kraal, and a blunt soldierly answer was returned to the +demand for surrender. + +But it was a desperate business. The attackers were five to one, and +the five were soldiers of De Wet, the hard-bitten veterans of a hundred +encounters. The captured wagons in a long double row stretched out over +the plain, and under this cover the Dutchmen swarmed up to the kraal. +But the men who faced them were veterans also, and the defence made up +for the disparity of numbers. With fine courage the Boers made their way +up to the village, and established themselves in the outlying huts, but +the Mounted Infantry clung desperately to their position. Out of the +few officers present Findlay was shot through the head, Moir and Cameron +through the heart, and Strong through the stomach. It was a Waggon Hill +upon a small scale, two dour lines of skirmishers emptying their rifles +into each other at point-blank range. Once more, as at Bothaville, the +British Mounted Infantry proved that when it came to a dogged pelting +match they could stand punishment longer than their enemy. They suffered +terribly. Fifty-one out of the little force were on the ground, and the +survivors were not much more numerous than their prisoners. To the 1st +Gordons, the 2nd Bedfords, the South Australians, and the New South +Welsh men belongs the honour of this magnificent defence. For four hours +the fierce battle raged, until at last the parched and powder-stained +survivors breathed a prayer of thanks as they saw on the southern +horizon the vanguard of De Lisle riding furiously to the rescue. For the +last hour, since they had despaired of carrying the kraal, the Boers had +busied themselves in removing their convoy; but now, for the second time +in one day, the drivers found British rifles pointed at their heads, and +the oxen were turned once more and brought back to those who had fought +so hard to hold them. Twenty-eight killed and twenty-six wounded were +the losses in this desperate affair. Of the Boers seventeen were left +dead in front of the kraal, and the forty-five had not escaped from the +bulldog grip which held them. There seems for some reason to have been +no effective pursuit of the Boers, and the British column held on its +way to Kroonstad. + +The second incident which stands out amid the dreary chronicle of +hustlings and snipings is the surprise visit paid by Broadwood with a +small British column to the town of Reitz upon July 11th, which resulted +in the capture of nearly every member of the late government of the Free +State, save only the one man whom they particularly wanted. The column +consisted of 200 yeomen, 200 of the 7th Dragoon Guards, and two guns. +Starting at 11 P.M., the raiders rode hard all night and broke with +the dawn upon the sleeping village. Racing into the main street, they +secured the startled Boers as they rushed from the houses. It is easy +to criticise such an operation from a distance, and to overlook the +practical difficulties in the way, but on the face of it it seems a pity +that the holes had not been stopped before the ferret was sent in. +A picket at the farther end of the street would have barred Steyn's +escape. As it was, he flung himself upon his horse and galloped +half-clad out of the town. Sergeant Cobb of the Dragoons snapped a rifle +at close quarters upon him, but the cold of the night had frozen the oil +on the striker and the cartridge hung fire. On such trifles do the large +events of history turn! Two Boer generals, two commandants, Steyn's +brother, his secretary, and several other officials were among the +nine-and-twenty prisoners. The treasury was also captured, but it is +feared that the Yeomen and Dragoons will not be much the richer from +their share of the contents. + +Save these two incidents, the fight at Reitz and the capture of a +portion of Steyn's government at the same place, the winter's campaign +furnished little which was of importance, though a great deal of very +hard and very useful work was done by the various columns under the +direction of the governors of the four military districts. In the south +General Bruce Hamilton made two sweeps, one from the railway line to +the western frontier, and the second from the south and east in the +direction of Petrusburg. The result of the two operations was about 300 +prisoners. At the same time Monro and Hickman re-cleared the already +twice-cleared districts of Rouxville and Smithfield. The country in the +east of the Colony was verging now upon the state which Grant described +in the Shenandoah Valley: 'A crow,' said he, 'must carry his own rations +when he flies across it.' + +In the middle district General Charles Knox, with the columns of +Pine-Coffin, Thorneycroft, Pilcher, and Henry, were engaged in the same +sort of work with the same sort of results. + +The most vigorous operations fell to the lot of General Elliot, who +worked over the northern and north-eastern district, which still +contained a large number of fighting burghers. In May and June Elliot +moved across to Vrede and afterwards down the eastern frontier of the +Colony, joining hands at last with Rundle at Harrismith. He then worked +his way back to Kroonstad through Reitz and Lindley. It was on this +journey that Sladen's Mounted Infantry had the sharp experience which +has been already narrated. Western's column, working independently, +co-operated with Elliot in this clearing of the north-east. In August +there were very large captures by Broadwood's force, which had attained +considerable mobility, ninety miles being covered by it on one occasion +in two days. + +Of General Rundle there is little to be said, as he was kept busy in +exploring the rough country in his own district--the same district +which had been the scene of the operations against Prinsloo and the +Fouriesburg surrender. Into this district Kritzinger and his men +trekked after they were driven from the Colony in July, and many +small skirmishes and snipings among the mountains showed that the Boer +resistance was still alive. + +July and August were occupied in the Orange River Colony by energetic +operations of Spens' and Rimington's columns in the midland districts, +and by a considerable drive to the north-eastern corner, which was +shared by three columns under Elliot and two under Plumer, with one +under Henry and several smaller bodies. A considerable number of +prisoners and a large amount of stock were the result of the movement, +but it was very evident that there was a waste of energy in the +employment of such forces for such an end. The time appeared to be +approaching when a strong force of military police stationed permanently +in each district might prove a more efficient instrument. One +interesting development of this phase of the war was the enrolment of +a burgher police among the Boers who had surrendered. These men--well +paid, well mounted, and well armed--were an efficient addition to the +British forces. The movement spread until before the end of the war +there were several thousand burghers under such well-known officers +as Celliers, Villonel, and young Cronje, fighting against their +own guerilla countrymen. Who, in 1899, could have prophesied such a +phenomenon as that! + +Lord Kitchener's proclamation issued upon August 9th marked one more +turn in the screw upon the part of the British authorities. By it the +burghers were warned that those who had not laid down their arms by +September 15th would in the case of the leaders be banished, and in +the case of the burghers be compelled to support their families in +the refugee camps. As many of the fighting burghers were men of no +substance, the latter threat did not affect them much, but the other, +though it had little result at the time, may be useful for the exclusion +of firebrands during the period of reconstruction. Some increase was +noticeable in the number of surrenders after the proclamation, but on +the whole it had not the result which was expected, and its expediency +is very open to question. This date may be said to mark the conclusion +of the winter campaign and the opening of a new phase in the struggle. + + + +CHAPTER 35. THE GUERILLA OPERATIONS IN CAPE COLONY. + +In the account which has been given in a preceding chapter of the +invasion of Cape Colony by the Boer forces, it was shown that the +Western bands were almost entirely expelled, or at least that they +withdrew, at the time when De Wet was driven across the Orange River. +This was at the beginning of March 1901. It was also mentioned that +though the Boers evacuated the barren and unprofitable desert of the +Karoo, the Eastern bands which had come with Kritzinger did not follow +the same course, but continued to infest the mountainous districts of +the Central Colony, whence they struck again and again at the railway +lines, the small towns, British patrols, or any other quarry which +was within their reach and strength. From the surrounding country they +gathered a fair number of recruits, and they were able through the +sympathy and help of the Dutch farmers to keep themselves well mounted +and supplied. In small wandering bands they spread themselves over a +vast extent of country, and there were few isolated farmhouses from +the Orange River to the Oudtshoorn Mountains, and from the Cape Town +railroad in the west to the Fish River in the east, which were not +visited by their active and enterprising scouts. The object of the whole +movement was, no doubt, to stimulate a general revolt in the Colony; and +it must be acknowledged that if the powder did not all explode it was +not for want of the match being thoroughly applied. + +It might at first sight seem the simplest of military operations to hunt +down these scattered and insignificant bands; but as a matter of fact +nothing could be more difficult. Operating in a country which was both +vast and difficult, with excellent horses, the best of information +and supplies ready for them everywhere, it was impossible for the +slow-moving British columns with their guns and their wagons to overtake +them. Formidable even in flight, the Boers were always ready to turn +upon any force which exposed itself too rashly to retaliation, and so +amid the mountain passes the British chiefs had to use an amount of +caution which was incompatible with extreme speed. Only when a commando +was exactly localised so that two or three converging British forces +could be brought to bear upon it, was there a reasonable chance of +forcing a fight. Still, with all these heavy odds against them, the +various little columns continued month after month to play hide-and-seek +with the commandos, and the game was by no means always on the one side. +The varied fortunes of this scrambling campaign can only be briefly +indicated in these pages. + +It has already been shown that Kritzinger's original force broke into +many bands, which were recruited partly from the Cape rebels and partly +from fresh bodies which passed over from the Orange River Colony. The +more severe the pressure in the north, the greater reason was there +for a trek to this land of plenty. The total number of Boers who were +wandering over the eastern and midland districts may have been about two +thousand, who were divided into bands which varied from fifty to three +hundred. The chief leaders of separate commandos were Kritzinger, +Scheepers, Malan, Myburgh, Fouche, Lotter, Smuts, Van Reenen, Lategan, +Maritz, and Conroy, the two latter operating on the western side of the +country. To hunt down these numerous and active bodies the British were +compelled to put many similar detachments into the field, known as +the columns of Gorringe, Crabbe, Henniker, Scobell, Doran, Kavanagh, +Alexander, and others. These two sets of miniature armies performed an +intricate devil's dance over the Colony, the main lines of which are +indicated by the red lines upon the map. The Zuurberg mountains to the +north of Steynsburg, the Sneeuwberg range to the south of Middelburg, +the Oudtshoorn Mountains in the south, the Cradock district, the +Murraysburg district, and the Graaf-Reinet district--these were the +chief centres of Boer activity. + +In April Kritzinger made his way north to the Orange River Colony, for +the purpose of consulting with De Wet, but he returned with a following +of 200 men about the end of May. Continual brushes occurred during this +month between the various columns, and much hard marching was done upon +either side, but there was nothing which could be claimed as a positive +success. + +Early in May two passengers sailed for Europe, the journey of each being +in its way historical. The first was the weary and overworked Pro-Consul +who had the foresight to distinguish the danger and the courage to +meet it. Milner's worn face and prematurely grizzled hair told of the +crushing weight which had rested upon him during three eventful years. A +gentle scholar, he might have seemed more fitted for a life of academic +calm than for the stormy part which the discernment of Mr. Chamberlain +had assigned to him. The fine flower of an English university, +low-voiced and urbane, it was difficult to imagine what impression +he would produce upon those rugged types of which South Africa is so +peculiarly prolific. But behind the reserve of a gentleman there lay +within him a lofty sense of duty, a singular clearness of vision, and +a moral courage which would brace him to follow whither his reason +pointed. His visit to England for three months' rest was the +occasion for a striking manifestation of loyalty and regard from his +fellow-countrymen. He returned in August as Lord Milner to the scene of +his labours, with the construction of a united and loyal commonwealth of +South Africa as the task of his life. + +The second traveller who sailed within a few days of the Governor was +Mrs. Botha, the wife of the Boer General, who visited Europe for private +as well as political reasons. She bore to Kruger an exact account of the +state of the country and of the desperate condition of the burghers. +Her mission had no immediate or visible effect, and the weary war, +exhausting for the British but fatal for the Boers, went steadily on. + +To continue the survey of the operations in the Cape, the first point +scored was by the invaders, for Malan's commando succeeded upon May 13th +in overwhelming a strong patrol of the Midland Mounted Rifles, the local +colonial corps, to the south of Maraisburg. Six killed, eleven wounded, +and forty-one prisoners were the fruits of his little victory, which +furnished him also with a fresh supply of rifles and ammunition. On May +21st Crabbe's column was in touch with Lotter and with Lategan, but no +very positive result came from the skirmish. + +The end of May showed considerable Boer activity in the Cape Colony, +that date corresponding with the return of Kritzinger from the north. +Haig had for the moment driven Scheepers back from the extreme southerly +point which he had reached, and he was now in the Graaf-Reinet district; +but on the other side of the colony Conroy had appeared near Kenhart, +and upon May 23rd he fought a sharp skirmish with a party of Border +Scouts. The main Boer force under Kritzinger was in the midlands, +however, and had concentrated to such an extent in the Cradock district +that it was clear that some larger enterprise was on foot. This soon +took shape, for on June 2nd, after a long and rapid march, the Boer +leader threw himself upon Jamestown, overwhelmed the sixty townsmen who +formed the guard, and looted the town, from which he drew some welcome +supplies and 100 horses. British columns were full cry upon his heels, +however, and the Boers after a few hours left the gutted town and +vanished into the hills once more. On June 6th the British had a little +luck at last, for on that date Scobell and Lukin in the Barkly East +district surprised a laager and took twenty prisoners, 166 horses, and +much of the Jamestown loot. On the same day Windham treated Van +Reenen in a similar rough fashion near Steynsburg, and took twenty-two +prisoners. + +On June 8th the supreme command of the operations in Cape Colony was +undertaken by General French, who from this time forward manoeuvred his +numerous columns upon a connected plan with the main idea of pushing the +enemy northwards. It was some time, however, before his disposition +bore fruit, for the commandos were still better mounted and lighter than +their pursuers. On June 13th the youthful and dashing Scheepers, who +commanded his own little force at an age when he would have been a +junior lieutenant of the British army, raided Murraysburg and captured +a patrol. On June 17th Monro with Lovat's Scouts and Bethune's Mounted +Infantry had some slight success near Tarkastad, but three days later +the ill-fated Midland Mounted Rifles were surprised in the early morning +by Kritzinger at Waterkloof, which is thirty miles west of Cradock, +and were badly mauled by him. They lost ten killed, eleven wounded, +and sixty-six prisoners in this unfortunate affair. Again the myth that +colonial alertness is greater than that of regular troops seems to have +been exposed. + +At the end of June, Fouche, one of the most enterprising of the guerilla +chiefs, made a dash from Barkly East into the native reserves of the +Transkei in order to obtain horses and supplies. It was a desperate +measure, as it was vain to suppose that the warlike Kaffirs would permit +their property to be looted without resistance, and if once the assegais +were reddened no man could say how far the mischief might go. With great +loyalty the British Government, even in the darkest days, had held back +those martial races--Zulus, Swazis, and Basutos--who all had old grudges +against the Amaboon. Fouche's raid was stopped, however, before it led +to serious trouble. A handful of Griqualand Mounted Rifles held it in +front, while Dalgety and his colonial veterans moving very swiftly drove +him back northwards. + +Though baulked, Fouche was still formidable, and on July 14th he made +a strong attack in the neighbourhood of Jamestown upon a column of +Connaught Rangers who were escorting a convoy. Major Moore offered a +determined resistance, and eventually after some hours of fighting drove +the enemy away and captured their laager. Seven killed and seventeen +wounded were the British losses in this spirited engagement. + +On July 10th General French, surveying from a lofty mountain peak the +vast expanse of the field of operations, with his heliograph calling up +responsive twinkles over one hundred miles of country, gave the order +for the convergence of four columns upon the valley in which he knew +Scheepers to be lurking. We have it from one of his own letters that +his commando at the time consisted of 240 men, of whom forty were Free +Staters and the rest colonial rebels. Crewe, Windham, Doran, and Scobell +each answered to the call, but the young leader was a man of resource, +and a long kloof up the precipitous side of the hill gave him a road to +safety. Yet the operations showed a new mobility in the British columns, +which shed their guns and their baggage in order to travel faster. The +main commando escaped, but twenty-five laggards were taken. The action +took place among the hills thirty miles to the west of Graaf-Reinet. + +On July 21st Crabbe and Kritzinger had a skirmish in the mountains near +Cradock, in which the Boers were strong enough to hold their own; but on +the same date near Murraysburg, Lukin, the gallant colonial gunner, with +ninety men rode into 150 of Lategan's band and captured ten of them, +with a hundred horses. On July 27th a small party of twenty-one Imperial +Yeomanry was captured, after a gallant resistance, by a large force of +Boers at the Doorn River on the other side of the Colony. The Kaffir +scouts of the British were shot dead in cold blood by their captors +after the action. There seems to be no possible excuse for the repeated +murders of coloured men by the Boers, as they had themselves from the +beginning of the war used their Kaffirs for every purpose short of +actually fighting. The war had lost much of the good humour which marked +its outset. A fiercer feeling had been engendered on both sides by the +long strain, but the execution of rebels by the British, though much to +be deplored, is still recognised as one of the rights of a belligerent. +When one remembers the condonation upon the part of the British of the +use of their own uniforms by the Boers, of the wholesale breaking of +paroles, of the continual use of expansive bullets, of the abuse of the +pass system and of the red cross, it is impossible to blame them for +showing some severity in the stamping out of armed rebellion within +their own Colony. If stern measures were eventually adopted it was +only after extreme leniency had been tried and failed. The loss of five +years' franchise as a penalty for firing upon their own flag is surely +the most gentle correction which an Empire ever laid upon a rebellious +people. + +At the beginning of August the connected systematic work of French's +columns began to tell. In a huge semicircle the British were pushing +north, driving the guerillas in front of them. Scheepers in his usual +wayward fashion had broken away to the south, but the others had been +unable to penetrate the cordon and were herded over the Stormberg to +Naauwport line. The main body of the Boers was hustled swiftly along +from August 7th to August 10th, from Graaf-Reinet to Thebus, and thrust +over the railway line at that point with some loss of men and a great +shedding of horses. It was hoped that the blockhouses on the railroad +would have held the enemy, but they slipped across by night and got into +the Steynsburg district, where Gorringe's colonials took up the running. +On August 18th he followed the commandos from Steynsburg to Venterstad, +killing twenty of them and taking several prisoners. On the 15th, +Kritzinger with the main body of the invaders passed the Orange River +near Bethulie, and made his way to the Wepener district of the Orange +River Colony. Scheepers, Lotter, Lategan, and a few small wandering +bands were the only Boers left in the Colony, and to these the British +columns now turned their attention, with the result that Lategan, +towards the end of the month, was also driven over the river. For the +time, at least, the situation seemed to have very much improved, but +there was a drift of Boers over the north-western frontier, and the +long-continued warfare at their own doors was undoubtedly having a +dangerous effect upon the Dutch farmers. Small successes from time +to time, such as the taking of sixty of French's Scouts by Theron's +commando on August 10th, served to keep them from despair. Of the +guerilla bands which remained, the most important was that of Scheepers, +which now numbered 300 men, well mounted and supplied. He had broken +back through the cordon, and made for his old haunts in the south-west. +Theron, with a smaller band, was also in the Uniondale and Willowmore +district, approaching close to the sea in the Mossel Bay direction, but +being headed off by Kavanagh. Scheepers turned in the direction of Cape +Town, but swerved aside at Montagu, and moved northwards towards Touws +River. + +So far the British had succeeded in driving and injuring, but never in +destroying, the Boer bands. It was a new departure therefore when, upon +September 4th, the commando of Lotter was entirely destroyed by the +column of Scobell. This column consisted of some of the Cape Mounted +Rifles and of the indefatigable 9th Lancers. It marked the enemy down in +a valley to the west of Cradock and attacked them in the morning, after +having secured all the approaches. The result was a complete success. +The Boers threw themselves into a building and held out valiantly, +but their position was impossible, and after enduring considerable +punishment they were forced to hoist the white flag. Eleven had been +killed, forty-six wounded, and fifty-six surrendered--figures which are +in themselves a proof of the tenacity of their defence. Lotter was among +the prisoners, 260 horses were taken, and a good supply of ammunition, +with some dynamite. A few days later, on September 10th, a similar blow, +less final in its character, was dealt by Colonel Crabbe to the commando +of Van der Merve, which was an offshoot of that of Scheepers. The action +was fought near Laingsburg, which is on the main line, just north of +Matjesfontein, and it ended in the scattering of the Boer band, the +death of their boy leader (he was only eighteen years of age), and the +capture of thirty-seven prisoners. Seventy of the Boers escaped by a +hidden road. To Colonials and Yeomanry belongs the honour of the action, +which cost the British force seven casualties. Colonel Crabbe pushed +on after the success, and on September 14th he was in touch with +Scheepers's commando near Ladismith (not to be confused with the +historical town of Natal), and endured and inflicted some losses. On +the 17th a patrol of Grenadier Guards was captured in the north of the +Colony, Rebow, the young lieutenant in charge of them, meeting with a +soldier's death. + +On the same day a more serious engagement occurred near Tarkastad, +a place which lies to the east of Cradock, a notorious centre of +disaffection in the midland district. Smuts's commando, some hundreds +strong, was marked down in this part, and several forces converged upon +it. One of the outlets, Elands River Poort, was guarded by a single +squadron of the 17th Lancers. Upon this the Boers made a sudden and very +fierce attack, their approach being facilitated partly by the mist and +partly by the use of khaki, a trick which seems never to have grown too +stale for successful use. The result was that they were able to ride +up to the British camp before any preparations had been made for +resistance, and to shoot down a number of the Lancers before they could +reach their horses. So terrible was the fire that the single squadron +lost thirty-four killed and thirty-six wounded. But the regiment may +console itself for the disaster by the fact that the sorely stricken +detachment remained true to the spirited motto of the corps, and that no +prisoners appear to have been lost. + +After this one sharp engagement there ensued several weeks during +which the absence of historical events, or the presence of the military +censor, caused a singular lull in the account of the operations. With +so many small commandos and so many pursuing columns it is extraordinary +that there should not have been a constant succession of actions. +That there was not must indicate a sluggishness upon the part of the +pursuers, and this sluggishness can only be explained by the condition +of their horses. Every train of thought brings the critic back always to +the great horse question, and encourages the conclusion that there, at +all seasons of the war and in all scenes of it, is to be found the most +damning indictment against British foresight, common-sense, and power +of organisation. That the third year of the war should dawn without +the British forces having yet got the legs of the Boers, after having +penetrated every portion of their country and having the horses of the +world on which to draw, is the most amazingly inexplicable point in the +whole of this strange campaign. From the telegram 'Infantry preferred' +addressed to a nation of rough-riders, down to the failure to secure the +excellent horses on the spot, while importing them unfit for use from +the ends of the earth, there has been nothing but one long series of +blunders in this, the most vital question of all. Even up to the end, in +the Colony the obvious lesson had not yet been learnt that it is better +to give 1000 men two horses each, and to let them reach the enemy, than +give 2000 men one horse each, with which they can never attain their +object. The chase during two years of the man with two horses by the man +with one horse, has been a sight painful to ourselves and ludicrous to +others. + +In connection with this account of operations within the Colony, there +is one episode which occurred in the extreme north-west which will +not fit in with this connected narrative, but which will justify the +distraction of the reader's intelligence, for few finer deeds of arms +are recorded in the war. This was the heroic defence of a convoy by the +14th Company of Irish Imperial Yeomanry. The convoy was taking food to +Griquatown, on the Kimberley side of the seat of war. The town had been +long invested by Conroy, and the inhabitants were in such straits that +it was highly necessary to relieve them. To this end a convoy, two miles +long, was despatched under Major Humby of the Irish Yeomanry. The escort +consisted of seventy-five Northumberland Fusiliers, twenty-four +local troops, and 100 of the 74th Irish Yeomanry. Fifteen miles from +Griquatown, at a place called Rooikopjes, the convoy was attacked by the +enemy several hundred in number. Two companies of the Irishmen seized +the ridge, however, which commanded the wagons, and held it until they +were almost exterminated. The position was covered with bush, and the +two parties came to the closest of quarters, the Yeomen refusing to take +a backward step, though it was clear that they were vastly outnumbered. +Encouraged by the example of Madan and Ford, their gallant young +leaders, they deliberately sacrificed their lives in order to give time +for the guns to come up and for the convoy to pass. Oliffe, Bonynge, and +Maclean, who had been children together, were shot side by side on the +ridge, and afterwards buried in one grave. Of forty-three men in action, +fourteen were killed and twenty severely wounded. Their sacrifice was +not in vain, however. The Boers were beaten back, and the convoy, as +well as Griquatown, was saved. Some thirty or forty Boers were killed or +wounded in the skirmish, and Conroy, their leader, declared that it was +the stiffest fight of his life. + +In the autumn and winter of 1901 General French had steadily pursued the +system of clearing certain districts, one at a time, and endeavouring by +his blockhouses and by the arrangement of his forces to hold in strict +quarantine those sections of the country which were still infested by +the commandos. In this manner he succeeded by the November of this year +in confining the active forces of the enemy to the extreme north-east +and to the south-west of the peninsula. It is doubtful if the whole Boer +force, three-quarters of whom were colonial rebels, amounted to more +than fifteen hundred men. When we learn that at this period of the war +they were indifferently armed, and that many of them were mounted upon +donkeys, it is impossible, after making every allowance for the passive +assistance of the farmers, and the difficulties of the country, to +believe that the pursuit was always pushed with the spirit and vigour +which was needful. + +In the north-east, Myburgh, Wessels, and the truculent Fouche were +allowed almost a free hand for some months, while the roving bands were +rounded up in the midlands and driven along until they were west of the +main railroad. Here, in the Calvinia district, several commandos united +in October 1901 under Maritz, Louw, Smit, and Theron. Their united +bands rode down into the rich grain-growing country round Piquetberg +and Malmesbury, pushing south until it seemed as if their academic +supporters at Paarl were actually to have a sight of the rebellion which +they had fanned to a flame. At one period their patrols were within +forty miles of Cape Town. The movement was checked, however, by a small +force of Lancers and district troops, and towards the end of October, +Maritz, who was chief in this quarter, turned northwards, and on the +29th captured a small British convoy which crossed his line of march. +Early in November he doubled back and attacked Piquetberg, but was +beaten off with some loss. From that time a steady pressure from the +south and east drove these bands farther and farther into the great +barren lands of the west, until, in the following April, they had got as +far as Namaqualand, many hundred miles away. + +Upon October 9th, the second anniversary of the Ultimatum, the hands of +the military were strengthened by the proclamation of Cape Town and all +the seaport towns as being in a state of martial law. By this means a +possible source of supplies and recruits for the enemy was effectually +blocked. That it had not been done two years before is a proof of how +far local political considerations can be allowed to over-ride the +essentials of Imperial policy. Meanwhile treason courts were sitting, +and sentences, increasing rapidly from the most trivial to the most +tragic, were teaching the rebel that his danger did not end upon the +field of battle. The execution of Lotter and his lieutenants was a sign +that the patience of a long-suffering Empire had at last reached an end. + +The young Boer leader, Scheepers, had long been a thorn in the side of +the British. He had infested the southern districts for some months, and +he had distinguished himself both by the activity of his movements +and by the ruthless vigour of some of his actions. Early in October a +serious illness and consequent confinement to his bed brought him at +last within the range of British mobility. On his recovery he was +tried for repeated breaches of the laws of war, including the murder +of several natives. He was condemned to death, and was executed in +December. Much sympathy was excited by his gallantry and his youth--he +was only twenty-three. On the other hand, our word was pledged to +protect the natives, and if he whose hand had been so heavy upon them +escaped, all confidence would have been lost in our promises and our +justice. That British vengeance was not indiscriminate was shown soon +afterwards in the case of a more important commander, Kritzinger, who +was the chief leader of the Boers within Cape Colony. Kritzinger was +wounded and captured while endeavouring to cross the line near Hanover +Road upon December 15th. He was put upon his trial, and his fate +turned upon how far he was responsible for the misdeeds of some of his +subordinates. It was clearly shown that he had endeavoured to hold them +within the bounds of civilised warfare, and with congratulations and +handshakings he was acquitted by the military court. + +In the last two months of the year 1901, a new system was introduced +into the Cape Colony campaign by placing the Colonial and district +troops immediately under the command of Colonial officers and of the +Colonial Government. It had long been felt that some devolution was +necessary, and the change was justified by the result. Without any +dramatic incident, an inexorable process of attrition, caused by +continual pursuit and hardship, wore out the commandos. Large bands had +become small ones, and small ones had vanished. Only by the union +of several bodies could any enterprise higher than the looting of a +farmhouse be successfully attempted. + +Such a union occurred, however, in the early days of February 1902, when +Smuts, Malan, and several other Boer leaders showed great activity in +the country round Calvinia. Their commandos seem to have included +a proportion of veteran Republicans from the north, who were more +formidable fighting material than the raw Colonial rebels. It happened +that several dangerously weak British columns were operating within +reach at that time, and it was only owing to the really admirable +conduct of the troops that a serious disaster was averted. Two separate +actions, each of them severe, were fought on the same date, and in each +case the Boers were able to bring very superior numbers into the field. + +The first of these was the fight in which Colonel Doran's column +extricated itself with severe loss from a most perilous plight. The +whole force under Doran consisted of 350 men with two guns, and this +handful was divided by an expedition which he, with 150 men, undertook +in order to search a distant farm. The remaining two hundred men, under +Captain Saunders, were left upon February 5th with the guns and the +convoy at a place called Middlepost, which lies about fifty miles +south-west of Calvinia. These men were of the 11th, 23rd, and 24th +Imperial Yeomanry, with a troop of Cape Police. The Boer Intelligence +was excellent, as might be expected in a country which is dotted with +farms. The weakened force at Middlepost was instantly attacked by +Smuts's commando. Saunders evacuated the camp and abandoned the convoy, +which was the only thing he could do, but he concentrated all his +efforts upon preserving his guns. The night was illuminated by the +blazing wagons, and made hideous by the whoops of the drunken rebels +who caroused among the captured stores. With the first light of dawn the +small British force was fiercely assailed on all sides, but held its +own in a manner which would have done credit to any troops. The much +criticised Yeomen fought like veterans. A considerable position had +to be covered, and only a handful of men were available at the most +important points. One ridge, from which the guns would be enfiladed, was +committed to the charge of Lieutenants Tabor and Chichester with eleven +men of the 11th Imperial Yeomanry, their instructions being 'to hold +it to the death.' The order was obeyed with the utmost heroism. After +a desperate defence the ridge was only taken by the Boers when both +officers had been killed and nine out of eleven men were on the ground. +In spite of the loss of this position the fight was still sustained +until shortly after midday, when Doran with the patrol returned. The +position was still most dangerous, the losses had been severe, and the +Boers were increasing in strength. An immediate retreat was ordered, and +the small column, after ten days of hardship and anxiety, reached the +railway line in safety. The wounded were left to the care of Smuts, who +behaved with chivalry and humanity. + +At about the same date a convoy proceeding from Beaufort West to +Fraserburg was attacked by Malan's commando. The escort, which consisted +of sixty Colonial Mounted Rifles and 100 of the West Yorkshire militia, +was overwhelmed after a good defence, in which Major Crofton, their +commander, was killed. The wagons were destroyed, but the Boers were +driven off by the arrival of Crabbe's column, followed by those of +Capper and Lund. The total losses of the British in these two actions +amounted to twenty-three killed and sixty-five wounded. + +The re-establishment of settled law and order was becoming more marked +every week in those south-western districts, which had long been most +disturbed. Colonel Crewe in this region, and Colonel Lukin upon the +other side of the line, acting entirely with Colonial troops, were +pushing back the rebels, and holding, by a well-devised system of +district defence, all that they had gained. By the end of February there +were none of the enemy south of the Beaufort West and Clanwilliam line. +These results were not obtained without much hard marching and a little +hard fighting. Small columns under Crabbe, Capper, Wyndham, Nickall, and +Lund, were continually on the move, with little to show for it save an +ever-widening area of settled country in their rear. In a skirmish on +February 20th Judge Hugo, a well-known Boer leader, was killed, and +Vanheerden, a notorious rebel, was captured. At the end of this month +Fouche's tranquil occupation of the north-east was at last disturbed, +and he was driven out of it into the midlands, where he took refuge with +the remains of his commando in the Camdeboo Mountains. Malan's men had +already sought shelter in the same natural fortress. Malan was wounded +and taken in a skirmish near Somerset East a few days before the general +Boer surrender. Fouche gave himself up at Cradock on June 2nd. + +The last incident of this scattered, scrambling, unsatisfactory campaign +in the Cape peninsula was the raid made by Smuts, the Transvaal leader, +into the Port Nolloth district of Namaqualand, best known for its copper +mines. A small railroad has been constructed from the coast at this +point, the terminus being the township of Ookiep. The length of the +line is about seventy miles. It is difficult to imagine what the Boers +expected to gain in this remote corner of the seat of war, unless they +had conceived the idea that they might actually obtain possession +of Port Nolloth itself, and so restore the communications with their +sympathisers and allies. At the end of March the Boer horsemen appeared +suddenly out of the desert, drove in the British outposts, and summoned +Ookiep to surrender. Colonel Shelton, who commanded the small garrison, +sent an uncompromising reply, but he was unable to protect the railway +in his rear, which was wrecked, together with some of the blockhouses +which had been erected to guard it. The loyal population of the +surrounding country had flocked into Ookiep, and the Commandant found +himself burdened with the care of six thousand people. The enemy had +succeeded in taking the small post of Springbok, and Concordia, the +mining centre, was surrendered into their hands without resistance, +giving them welcome supplies of arms, ammunition, and dynamite. The +latter was used by the Boers in the shape of hand-bombs, and proved to +be a very efficient weapon when employed against blockhouses. Several of +the British defences were wrecked by them, with considerable loss to +the garrison; but in the course of a month's siege, in spite of several +attacks, the Boers were never able to carry the frail works which +guarded the town. Once more, at the end of the war as at the beginning +of it, there was shown the impotence of the Dutch riflemen against a +British defence. A relief column, under Colonel Cooper, was quickly +organised at Port Nolloth, and advanced along the railway line, +forcing Smuts to raise the siege in the first week of May. Immediately +afterwards came the news of the negotiations for peace, and the Boer +general presented himself at Port Nolloth, whence he was conveyed by +ship to Cape Town, and so north again to take part in the deliberations +of his fellow-countrymen. Throughout the war he had played a manly +and honourable part. It may be hoped that with youth and remarkable +experience, both of diplomacy and of war, he may now find a long and +brilliant career awaiting him in a wider arena than that for which he +strove. + + + +CHAPTER 36. THE SPRING CAMPAIGN (SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER, 1901). + +The history of the war during the African winter of 1901 has now +been sketched, and some account given of the course of events in the +Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and the Cape Colony. The hope of +the British that they might stamp out resistance before the grass +should restore mobility to the larger bodies of Boers was destined to be +disappointed. By the middle of September the veld had turned from +drab to green, and the great drama was fated to last for one more act, +however anxious all the British and the majority of the Boers might be +to ring down the curtain. Exasperating as this senseless prolongation +of a hopeless struggle might be, there was still some consolation in the +reflection that those who drank this bitter cup to the very lees would +be less likely to thirst for it again. + +September 15th was the date which brought into force the British +Proclamation announcing the banishment of those Boer leaders who +continued in arms. It must be confessed that this step may appear harsh +and unchivalrous to the impartial observer, so long as those leaders +were guilty of no practices which are foreign to the laws of civilised +warfare. The imposition of personal penalties upon the officers of an +opposing army is a step for which it is difficult to quote a precedent, +nor is it wise to officially rule your enemy outside the pale of +ordinary warfare, since it is equally open to him to take the same +step against you. The only justification for such a course would be its +complete success, as this would suggest that the Intelligence Department +were aware that the leaders desired some strong excuse for coming +in--such an excuse as the Proclamation would afford. The result proved +that nothing of the kind was needed, and the whole proceeding must +appear to be injudicious and high-handed. In honourable war you conquer +your adversary by superior courage, strength, or wit, but you do not +terrorise him by particular penalties aimed at individuals. The burghers +of the Transvaal and of the late Orange Free State were legitimate +belligerents, and to be treated as such--a statement which does not, of +course, extend to the Afrikander rebels who were their allies. + +The tendency of the British had been to treat their antagonists as a +broken and disorganised banditti, but with the breaking of the spring +they were sharply reminded that the burghers were still capable of a +formidable and coherent effort. The very date which put them beyond the +pale as belligerents was that which they seem to have chosen in order +to prove what active and valiant soldiers they still remained. A quick +succession of encounters occurred at various parts of the seat of war, +the general tendency of which was not entirely in favour of the British +arms, though the weekly export of prisoners reassured all who noted it +as to the sapping and decay of the Boer strength. These incidents must +now be set down in the order of their occurrence, with their relation to +each other so far as it is possible to trace it. + +General Louis Botha, with the double intention of making an offensive +move and of distracting the wavering burghers from a close examination +of Lord Kitchener's proclamation, assembled his forces in the second +week of September in the Ermelo district. Thence he moved them rapidly +towards Natal, with the result that the volunteers of that colony had +once more to grasp their rifles and hasten to the frontier. The whole +situation bore for an instant an absurd resemblance to that of two years +before--Botha playing the part of Joubert, and Lyttelton, who commanded +on the frontier, that of White. It only remained, to make the parallel +complete, that some one should represent Penn Symons, and this perilous +role fell to a gallant officer, Major Gough, commanding a detached force +which thought itself strong enough to hold its own, and only learned by +actual experiment that it was not. + +This officer, with a small force consisting of three companies of +Mounted Infantry with two guns of the 69th R.F.A., was operating in the +neighbourhood of Utrecht in the south-eastern corner of the Transvaal, +on the very path along which Botha must descend. On September 17th +he had crossed De Jagers Drift on the Blood River, not very far from +Dundee, when he found himself in touch with the enemy. His mission was +to open a path for an empty convoy returning from Vryheid, and in order +to do so it was necessary that Blood River Poort, where the Boers were +now seen, should be cleared. With admirable zeal Gough pushed rapidly +forward, supported by a force of 350 Johannesburg Mounted Rifles under +Stewart. Such a proceeding must have seemed natural to any British +officer at this stage of the war, when a swift advance was the only +chance of closing with the small bodies of Boers; but it is strange that +the Intelligence Department had not warned the patrols upon the frontier +that a considerable force was coming down upon them, and that they +should be careful to avoid action against impossible odds. If Gough +had known that Botha's main commando was coming down upon him, it is +inconceivable that he would have pushed his advance until he could +neither extricate his men nor his guns. A small body of the enemy, said +to have been the personal escort of Louis Botha, led him on, until a +large force was able to ride down upon him from the flank and rear. +Surrounded at Scheepers Nek by many hundreds of riflemen in a difficult +country, there was no alternative but a surrender, and so sharp and +sudden was the Boer advance that the whole action was over in a very +short time. The new tactics of the Boers, already used at Vlakfontein, +and afterwards to be successful at Brakenlaagte and at Tweebosch, were +put in force. A large body of mounted men, galloping swiftly in open +order and firing from the saddle, rode into and over the British. Such +temerity should in theory have met with severe punishment, but as a +matter of fact the losses of the enemy seem to have been very small. The +soldiers were not able to return an effective fire from their horses, +and had no time to dismount. The sights and breech-blocks of the two +guns are said to have been destroyed, but the former statement seems +more credible than the latter. A Colt gun was also captured. Of the +small force twenty were killed, forty wounded, and over two hundred +taken. Stewart's force was able to extricate itself with some +difficulty, and to fall back on the Drift. Gough managed to escape that +night and to report that it was Botha himself, with over a thousand men, +who had eaten up his detachment. The prisoners and wounded were sent in +a few days later to Vryheid, a town which appeared to be in some danger +of capture had not Walter Kitchener hastened to carry reinforcements +to the garrison. Bruce Hamilton was at the same time despatched to head +Botha off, and every step taken to prevent his southern advance. So many +columns from all parts converged upon the danger spot that Lyttelton, +who commanded upon the Natal frontier, had over 20,000 men under his +orders. + +Botha's plans appear to have been to work through Zululand and then +strike at Natal, an operation which would be the more easy as it would +be conducted a considerable distance from the railway line. Pushing on +a few days after his successful action with Gough, he crossed the Zulu +frontier, and had in front of him an almost unimpeded march as far as +the Tugela. Crossing this far from the British base of power, his force +could raid the Greytown district and raise recruits among the Dutch +farmers, laying waste one of the few spots in South Africa which had +been untouched by the blight of war. All this lay before him, and in +his path nothing save only two small British posts which might be either +disregarded or gathered up as he passed. In an evil moment for himself, +tempted by the thought of the supplies which they might contain, he +stopped to gather them up, and the force of the wave of invasion broke +itself as upon two granite rocks. + +These two so-called forts were posts of very modest strength, a chain of +which had been erected at the time of the old Zulu war. Fort Itala, the +larger, was garrisoned by 300 men of the 5th Mounted Infantry, drawn +from the Dublin Fusiliers, Middlesex, Dorsets, South Lancashires, and +Lancashire Fusiliers--most of them old soldiers of many battles. They +had two guns of the 69th R.F.A., the same battery which had lost a +section the week before. Major Chapman, of the Dublins, was in command. + +Upon September 25th the small garrison heard that the main force of the +Boers was sweeping towards them, and prepared to give them a soldiers' +welcome. The fort is situated upon the flank of a hill, on the summit of +which, a mile from the main trenches, a strong outpost was stationed. +It was upon this that the first force of the attack broke at midnight +of September 25th. The garrison, eighty strong, was fiercely beset by +several hundred Boers, and the post was eventually carried after a sharp +and bloody contest. Kane, of the South Lancashires, died with the +words 'No surrender' upon his lips, and Potgieter, a Boer leader, was +pistolled by Kane's fellow officer, Lefroy. Twenty of the small garrison +fell, and the remainder were overpowered and taken. + +With this vantage-ground in their possession the Boers settled down to +the task of overwhelming the main position. They attacked upon three +sides, and until morning the force was raked from end to end by unseen +riflemen. The two British guns were put out of action and the maxim was +made unserviceable by a bullet. At dawn there was a pause in the attack, +but it recommenced and continued without intermission until sunset. The +span betwixt the rising of the sun and its last red glow in the west is +a long one for the man who spends it at his ease, but how never-ending +must have seemed the hours to this handful of men, outnumbered, +surrounded, pelted by bullets, parched with thirst, torn with anxiety, +holding desperately on with dwindling numbers to their frail defences! +To them it may have seemed a hard thing to endure so much for a tiny +fort in a savage land. The larger view of its vital importance could +have scarcely come to console the regimental officer, far less the +private. But duty carried them through, and they wrought better than +they knew, for the brave Dutchmen, exasperated by so disproportionate a +resistance, stormed up to the very trenches and suffered as they had +not suffered for many a long month. There have been battles with 10,000 +British troops hotly engaged in which the Boer losses have not been +so great as in this obscure conflict against an isolated post. When at +last, baffled and disheartened, they drew off with the waning light, it +is said that no fewer than a hundred of their dead and two hundred of +their wounded attested the severity of the fight. So strange are the +conditions of South African warfare that this loss, which would have +hardly made a skirmish memorable in the slogging days of the Peninsula, +was one of the most severe blows which the burghers had sustained in +the course of a two years' warfare against a large and aggressive army. +There is a conflict of evidence as to the exact figures, but at least +they were sufficient to beat the Boer army back and to change their plan +of campaign. + +Whilst this prolonged contest had raged round Fort Itala, a similar +attack upon a smaller scale was being made upon Fort Prospect, some +fifteen miles to the eastward. This small post was held by a handful +of Durham Artillery Militia and of Dorsets. The attack was delivered by +Grobler with several hundred burghers, but it made no advance although +it was pushed with great vigour, and repeated many times in the course +of the day. Captain Rowley, who was in command, handled his men +with such judgment that one killed and eight wounded represented his +casualties during a long day's fighting. Here again the Boer losses were +in proportion to the resolution of their attack, and are said to have +amounted to sixty killed and wounded. Considering the impossibility +of replacing the men, and the fruitless waste of valuable ammunition, +September 26th was an evil day for the Boer cause. The British +casualties amounted to seventy-three. + +The water of the garrison of Fort Itala had been cut off early in the +attack, and their ammunition had run low by evening. Chapman withdrew +his men and his guns therefore to Nkandhla, where the survivors of his +gallant garrison received the special thanks of Lord Kitchener. The +country around was still swarming with Boers, and on the last day of +September a convoy from Melmoth fell into their hands and provided them +with some badly needed supplies. + +But the check which he had received was sufficient to prevent any +important advance upon the part of Botha, while the swollen state of +the rivers put an additional obstacle in his way. Already the British +commanders, delighted to have at last discovered a definite objective, +were hurrying to the scene of action. Bruce Hamilton had reached Fort +Itala upon September 28th and Walter Kitchener had been despatched to +Vryheid. Two British forces, aided by smaller columns, were endeavouring +to surround the Boer leader. On October 6th Botha had fallen back to the +north-east of Vryheid, whither the British forces had followed him. Like +De Wet's invasion of the Cape, Botha's advance upon Natal had ended in +placing himself and his army in a critical position. On October 9th he +had succeeded in crossing the Privaan River, a branch of the Pongolo, +and was pushing north in the direction of Piet Retief, much helped by +misty weather and incessant rain. Some of his force escaped between the +British columns, and some remained in the kloofs and forests of that +difficult country. + +Walter Kitchener, who had followed up the Boer retreat, had a brisk +engagement with the rearguard upon October 6th. The Boers shook +themselves clear with some loss, both to themselves and to their +pursuers. On the 10th those of the burghers who held together had +reached Luneburg, and shortly afterwards they had got completely away +from the British columns. The weather was atrocious, and the lumbering +wagons, axle-deep in mud, made it impossible for troops who were +attached to them to keep in touch with the light riders who sped before +them. For some weeks there was no word of the main Boer force, but at +the end of that time they reappeared in a manner which showed that both +in numbers and in spirit they were still a formidable body. + +Of all the sixty odd British columns which were traversing the Boer +states there was not one which had a better record than that commanded +by Colonel Benson. During seven months of continuous service this small +force, consisting at that time of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, +the 2nd Scottish Horse, the 18th and 19th Mounted Infantry, and two +guns, had acted with great energy, and had reduced its work to a +complete and highly effective system. Leaving the infantry as a camp +guard, Benson operated with mounted troops alone, and no Boer laager +within fifty miles was safe from his nocturnal visits. So skilful had +he and his men become at these night attacks in a strange, and often +difficult country, that out of twenty-eight attempts twenty-one resulted +in complete success. In each case the rule was simply to gallop headlong +into the Boer laager, and to go on chasing as far as the horses could +go. The furious and reckless pace may be judged by the fact that the +casualties of the force were far greater from falls than from bullets. +In seven months forty-seven Boers were killed and six hundred captured, +to say nothing of enormous quantities of munitions and stock. The +success of these operations was due, not only to the energy of Benson +and his men, but to the untiring exertions of Colonel Wools-Sampson, +who acted as intelligence officer. If, during his long persecution by +President Kruger, Wools-Sampson in the bitterness of his heart had vowed +a feud against the Boer cause, it must be acknowledged that he has most +amply fulfilled it, for it would be difficult to point to any single man +who has from first to last done them greater harm. + +In October Colonel Benson's force was reorganised, and it then consisted +of the 2nd Buffs, the 2nd Scottish Horse, the 3rd and 25th Mounted +Infantry, and four guns of the 84th battery. With this force, numbering +nineteen hundred men, he left Middelburg upon the Delagoa line on +October 20th and proceeded south, crossing the course along which the +Boers, who were retiring from their abortive raid into Natal, might be +expected to come. For several days the column performed its familiar +work, and gathered up forty or fifty prisoners. On the 26th came news +that the Boer commandos under Grobler were concentrating against it, +and that an attack in force might be expected. For two days there was +continuous sniping, and the column as it moved through the country saw +Boer horsemen keeping pace with it on the far flanks and in the rear. +The weather had been very bad, and it was in a deluge of cold driving +rain that the British set forth upon October 30th, moving towards +Brakenlaagte, which is a point about forty miles due south of +Middelburg. It was Benson's intention to return to his base. + +About midday the column, still escorted by large bodies of aggressive +Boers, came to a difficult spruit swollen by the rain. Here the wagons +stuck, and it took some hours to get them all across. The Boer fire was +continually becoming more severe, and had broken out at the head of the +column as well as the rear. The situation was rendered more difficult by +the violence of the rain, which raised a thick steam from the ground and +made it impossible to see for any distance. Major Anley, in command of +the rearguard, peering back, saw through a rift of the clouds a large +body of horsemen in extended order sweeping after them. 'There's miles +of them, begob!' cried an excited Irish trooper. Next instant the +curtain had closed once more, but all who had caught a glimpse of that +vision knew that a stern struggle was at hand. + +At this moment two guns of the 84th battery under Major Guinness were +in action against Boer riflemen. As a rear screen on the farther side of +the guns was a body of the Scottish Horse and of the Yorkshire Mounted +Infantry. Near the guns themselves were thirty men of the Buffs. The +rest of the Buffs and of the Mounted Infantry were out upon the flanks +or else were with the advance guard, which was now engaged, under the +direction of Colonel Wools-Sampson, in parking the convoy and in forming +the camp. These troops played a small part in the day's fighting, the +whole force of which broke with irresistible violence upon the few +hundred men who were in front of or around the rear guns. Colonel +Benson seems to have just ridden back to the danger point when the Boers +delivered their furious attack. + +Louis Botha with his commando is said to have ridden sixty miles in +order to join the forces of Grobler and Oppermann, and overwhelm the +British column. It may have been the presence of their commander or a +desire to have vengeance for the harrying which they had undergone upon +the Natal border, but whatever the reason, the Boer attack was made +with a spirit and dash which earned the enthusiastic applause of every +soldier who survived to describe it. With the low roar of a great +torrent, several hundred horsemen burst through the curtain of mist, +riding at a furious pace for the British guns. The rear screen of +Mounted Infantry fell back before this terrific rush, and the two bodies +of horsemen came pell-mell down upon the handful of Buffs and the guns. +The infantry were ridden into and surrounded by the Boers, who found +nothing to stop them from galloping on to the low ridge upon which the +guns were stationed. This ridge was held by eighty of the Scottish +Horse and forty of the Yorkshire M.I., with a few riflemen from the 25th +Mounted Infantry. The latter were the escort of the guns, but the former +were the rear screen who had fallen back rapidly because it was the game +to do so, but who were in no way shaken, and who instantly dismounted +and formed when they reached a defensive position. + +These men had hardly time to take up their ground when the Boers were +on them. With that extraordinary quickness to adapt their tactics to +circumstances which is the chief military virtue of the Boers, the +horsemen did not gallop over the crest, but lined the edge of it, and +poured a withering fire on to the guns and the men beside them. The +heroic nature of the defence can be best shown by the plain figures of +the casualties. No rhetoric is needed to adorn that simple record. There +were thirty-two gunners round the guns, and twenty-nine fell where they +stood. Major Guinness was mortally wounded while endeavouring with his +own hands to fire a round of case. There were sixty-two casualties out +of eighty among the Scottish Horse, and the Yorkshires were practically +annihilated. Altogether 123 men fell, out of about 160 on the ridge. +'Hard pounding, gentlemen,' as Wellington remarked at Waterloo, and +British troops seemed as ready as ever to endure it. + +The gunners were, as usual, magnificent. Of the two little bullet-pelted +groups of men around the guns there was not one who did not stand to +his duty without flinching. Corporal Atkin was shot down with all his +comrades, but still endeavoured with his failing strength to twist the +breech-block out of the gun. Another bullet passed through his upraised +hands as he did it. Sergeant Hayes, badly wounded, and the last survivor +of the crew, seized the lanyard, crawled up the trail, and fired a last +round before he fainted. Sergeant Mathews, with three bullets through +him, kept steadily to his duty. Five drivers tried to bring up a limber +and remove the gun, but all of them, with all the horses, were hit. +There have been incidents in this war which have not increased our +military reputation, but you might search the classical records of +valour and fail to find anything finer than the consistent conduct of +the British artillery. + +Colonel Benson was hit in the knee and again in the stomach, but wounded +as he was he despatched a message back to Wools-Sampson, asking him to +burst shrapnel over the ridge so as to prevent the Boers from carrying +off the guns. The burghers had ridden in among the litter of dead and +wounded men which marked the British position, and some of the baser +of them, much against the will of their commanders, handled the injured +soldiers with great brutality. The shell-fire drove them back, however, +and the two guns were left standing alone, with no one near them save +their prostrate gunners and escort. + +There has been some misunderstanding as to the part played by the Buffs +in this action, and words have been used which seem to imply that they +had in some way failed their mounted companions. It is due to the honour +of one of the finest regiments in the British army to clear this up. As +a matter of fact, the greater part of the regiment under Major Dauglish +was engaged in defending the camp. Near the guns there were four +separate small bodies of Buffs, none of which appears to have been +detailed as an escort. One of these parties, consisting of thirty men +under Lieutenant Greatwood, was ridden over by the horsemen, and the +same fate befell a party of twenty who were far out upon the flank. +Another small body under Lieutenant Lynch was over taken by the same +charge, and was practically destroyed, losing nineteen killed and +wounded out of thirty. In the rear of the guns was a larger body of +Buffs, 130 in number, under Major Eales. When the guns were taken this +handful attempted a counter-attack, but Eales soon saw that it was a +hopeless effort, and he lost thirty of his men before he could extricate +himself. Had these men been with the others on the gun ridge they might +have restored the fight, but they had not reached it when the position +was taken, and to persevere in the attempt to retake it would have led +to certain disaster. The only just criticism to which the regiment is +open is that, having just come off blockhouse duty, they were much out +of condition, which caused the men to straggle and the movements to be +unduly slow. + +It was fortunate that the command of the column devolved upon so +experienced and cool-headed a soldier as Wools-Sampson. To attempt a +counter-attack for the purpose of recapturing the guns would, in case of +disaster, have risked the camp and the convoy. The latter was the prize +which the Boers had particularly in view, and to expose it would be +to play their game. Very wisely, therefore, Wools-Sampson held the +attacking Boers off with his guns and his riflemen, while every spare +pair of hands was set to work entrenching the position and making it +impregnable against attack. Outposts were stationed upon all those +surrounding points which might command the camp, and a summons to +surrender from the Boer leader was treated with contempt. All day a +long-range fire, occasionally very severe, rained upon the camp. Colonel +Benson was brought in by the ambulance, and used his dying breath in +exhorting his subordinate to hold out. 'No more night marches' are said +to have been the last words spoken by this gallant soldier as he passed +away in the early morning after the action. On October 31st the force +remained on the defensive, but early on November 1st the gleaming of two +heliographs, one to the north-east and one to the south-west, told that +two British columns, those of De Lisle and of Barter, were hastening to +the rescue. But the Boers had passed as the storm does, and nothing but +their swathe of destruction was left to show where they had been. They +had taken away the guns during the night, and were already beyond the +reach of pursuit. + +Such was the action at Brakenlaagte, which cost the British sixty men +killed and 170 wounded, together with two guns. Colonel Benson, Colonel +Guinness, Captain Eyre Lloyd of the Guards, Major Murray and Captain +Lindsay of the Scottish Horse, with seven other officers were among the +dead, while sixteen officers were wounded. The net result of the action +was that the British rear-guard had been annihilated, but that the +main body and the convoy, which was the chief object of the attack, +was saved. The Boer loss was considerable, being about one hundred +and fifty. In spite of the Boer success nothing could suit the British +better than hard fighting of the sort, since whatever the immediate +result of it might be, it must necessarily cause a wastage among the +enemy which could never be replaced. The gallantry of the Boer charge +was only equalled by that of the resistance offered round the guns, +and it is an action to which both sides can look back without shame or +regret. It was feared that the captured guns would soon be used to break +the blockhouse line, but nothing of the kind was attempted, and within a +few weeks they were both recovered by British columns. + +In order to make a consecutive and intelligible narrative, I will +continue with an account of the operations in this south-eastern portion +of the Transvaal from the action of Brakenlaagte down to the end of the +year 1901. These were placed in the early part of November, under the +supreme command of General Bruce Hamilton, and that energetic commander +set in motion a number of small columns, which effected numerous +captures. He was much helped in his work by the new lines of +blockhouses, one of which extended from Standerton to Ermelo, while +another connected Brugspruit with Greylingstad. The huge country was +thus cut into manageable districts, and the fruits were soon seen by the +large returns of prisoners which came from this part of the seat of war. + +Upon December 3rd Bruce Hamilton, who had the valuable assistance of +Wools-Sampson to direct his intelligence, struck swiftly out from Ermelo +and fell upon a Boer laager in the early morning, capturing ninety-six +prisoners. On the 10th he overwhelmed the Bethel commando by a similar +march, killing seven and capturing 131. Williams and Wing commanded +separate columns in this operation, and their energy may be judged from +the fact that they covered fifty-one miles during the twenty-four hours. +On the 12th Hamilton's columns were on the war-path once more, and +another commando was wiped out. Sixteen killed and seventy prisoners +were the fruits of this expedition. For the second time in a week the +columns had done their fifty miles a day, and it was no surprise to +hear from their commander that they were in need of a rest. Nearly four +hundred prisoners had been taken from the most warlike portion of +the Transvaal in ten days by one energetic commander, with a list of +twenty-five casualties to ourselves. The thanks of the Secretary of War +were specially sent to him for his brilliant work. From then until +the end of the year 1901, numbers of smaller captures continued to +be reported from the same region, where Plumer, Spens, Mackenzie, +Rawlinson, and others were working. On the other hand there was one +small setback which occurred to a body of two hundred Mounted Infantry +under Major Bridgford, who had been detached from Spens's column to +search some farmhouses at a place called Holland, to the south of +Ermelo. The expedition set forth upon the night of December 19th, and +next morning surrounded and examined the farms. + +The British force became divided in doing this work, and were suddenly +attacked by several hundred of Britz's commando, who came to close +quarters through their khaki dress, which enabled them to pass as +Plumer's vanguard. The brunt of the fight fell upon an outlying body of +fifty men, nearly all of whom were killed, wounded or taken. A second +body of fifty men were overpowered in the same way, after a creditable +defence. Fifteen of the British were killed and thirty wounded, while +Bridgford the commander was also taken. Spens came up shortly afterwards +with the column, and the Boers were driven off. There seems every reason +to think that upon this occasion the plans of the British had leaked +out, and that a deliberate ambush had been laid for them round the +farms, but in such operations these are chances against which it is not +always possible to guard. Considering the number of the Boers, and the +cleverness of their dispositions, the British were fortunate in being +able to extricate their force without greater loss, a feat which was +largely due to the leading of Lieutenant Sterling. + +Leaving the Eastern Transvaal, the narrative must now return to several +incidents of importance which had occurred at various points of the seat +of war during the latter months of 1901. + +On September 19th, two days after Gough's disaster, a misfortune +occurred near Bloemfontein by which two guns and a hundred and forty men +fell temporarily into the hands of the enemy. These guns, belonging to +U battery, were moving south under an escort of Mounted Infantry, from +that very Sanna's Post which had been so fatal to the same battery +eighteen months before. When fifteen miles south of the Waterworks, at +a place called Vlakfontein (another Vlakfontein from that of General +Dixon's engagement), the small force was surrounded and captured by +Ackermann's commando. The gunner officer, Lieutenant Barry, died beside +his guns in the way that gunner officers have. Guns and men were taken, +however, the latter to be released, and the former to be recovered a +week or two later by the British columns. It is certainly a credit to +the Boers that the spring campaign should have opened by four British +guns falling into their hands, and it is impossible to withhold our +admiration for those gallant farmers who, after two years of exhausting +warfare, were still able to turn upon a formidable and victorious enemy, +and to renovate their supplies at his expense. + +Two days later, hard on the heels of Gough's mishap, of the Vlakfontein +incident, and of the annihilation of the squadron of Lancers in the +Cape, there was a serious affair at Elands Kloof, near Zastron, in the +extreme south of the Orange River Colony. In this a detachment of the +Highland Scouts raised by the public spirit of Lord Lovat was surprised +at night and very severely handled by Kritzinger's commando. The loss of +Colonel Murray, their commander, of the adjutant of the same name, and +of forty-two out of eighty of the Scouts, shows how fell was the attack, +which broke as sudden and as strong as a South African thunderstorm upon +the unconscious camp. The Boers appear to have eluded the outposts and +crept right among the sleeping troops, as they did in the case of the +Victorians at Wilmansrust. Twelve gunners were also hit, and the +only field gun taken. The retiring Boers were swiftly followed up by +Thorneycroft's column, however, and the gun was retaken, together with +twenty of Kritzinger's men. It must be confessed that there seems some +irony in the fact that, within five days of the British ruling by which +the Boers were no longer a military force, these non-belligerents had +inflicted a loss of nearly six hundred men killed, wounded, or taken. +Two small commandos, that of Koch in the Orange River Colony, and that +of Carolina, had been captured by Williams and Benson. Combined they +only numbered a hundred and nine men, but here, as always, they were men +who could never be replaced. + +Those who had followed the war with care, and had speculated upon the +future, were prepared on hearing of Botha's movement upon Natal to +learn that De la Rey had also made some energetic attack in the western +quarter of the Transvaal. Those who had formed this expectation were not +disappointed, for upon the last day of September the Boer chief struck +fiercely at Kekewich's column in a vigorous night attack, which led to +as stern an encounter as any in the campaign. This was the action at +Moedwill, near Magato Nek, in the Magaliesberg. + +When last mentioned De la Rey was in the Marico district, near Zeerust, +where he fought two actions with Methuen in the early part of September. +Thence he made his way to Rustenburg and into the Magaliesberg country, +where he joined Kemp. The Boer force was followed up by two British +columns under Kekewich and Fetherstonhaugh. The former commander +had camped upon the night of Sunday, September 30th, at the farm of +Moedwill, in a strong position within a triangle formed by the Selous +River on the west, a donga on the east, and the Zeerust-Rustenburg road +as a base. The apex of the triangle pointed north, with a ridge on the +farther side of the river. + +The men with Kekewich were for the most part the same as those who +had fought in the Vlakfontein engagement--the Derbys, the 1st Scottish +Horse, the Yeomanry, and the 28th R.F.A. Every precaution appears to +have been taken by the leader, and his pickets were thrown out so far +that ample warning was assured of an attack. The Boer onslaught came +so suddenly and fiercely, however, in the early morning, that the posts +upon the river bank were driven in or destroyed and the riflemen from +the ridge on the farther side were able to sweep the camp with their +fire. In numbers the two forces were not unequal, but the Boers had +already obtained the tactical advantage, and were playing a game in +which they are the schoolmasters of the world. Never has the British +spirit flamed up more fiercely, and from the commander to the latest +yeoman recruit there was not a man who flinched from a difficult and +almost a desperate task. The Boers must at all hazard be driven from the +position which enabled them to command the camp. No retreat was possible +without such an abandonment of stores as would amount to a disaster. In +the confusion and the uncertain light of early dawn there was no chance +of a concerted movement, though Kekewich made such dispositions as were +possible with admirable coolness and promptness. Squadrons and companies +closed in upon the river bank with the one thought of coming to close +quarters and driving the enemy from their commanding position. Already +more than half the horses and a very large number of officers and men +had gone down before the pelting bullets. Scottish Horse, Yeomanry, and +Derbys pushed on, the young soldiers of the two former corps keeping +pace with the veteran regiment. 'All the men behaved simply splendidly,' +said a spectator, 'taking what little cover there was and advancing yard +by yard. An order was given to try and saddle up a squadron, with the +idea of getting round their flank. I had the saddle almost on one of my +ponies when he was hit in two places. Two men trying to saddle alongside +of me were both shot dead, and Lieutenant Wortley was shot through the +knee. I ran back to where I had been firing from and found the Colonel +slightly hit, the Adjutant wounded and dying, and men dead and wounded +all round.' But the counter-attack soon began to make way. At first the +advance was slow, but soon it quickened into a magnificent rush, the +wounded Kekewich whooping on his men, and the guns coming into action +as the enemy began to fall back before the fierce charge of the British +riflemen. At six o'clock De la Rey's burghers had seen that their +attempt was hopeless, and were in full retreat--a retreat which could +not be harassed by the victors, whose cavalry had been converted by +that hail of bullets into footmen. The repulse had been absolute and +complete, for not a man or a cartridge had been taken from the British, +but the price paid in killed and wounded was a heavy one. No fewer +than 161 had been hit, including the gallant leader, whose hurt did not +prevent him from resuming his duties within a few days. The heaviest +losses fell upon the Scottish Horse, and upon the Derbys; but the +Yeomanry also proved on this, as on some other occasions, how ungenerous +were the criticisms to which they had been exposed. There are few +actions in the war which appear to have been more creditable to the +troops engaged. + +Though repulsed at Moedwill, De la Rey, the grim, long-bearded fighting +man, was by no means discouraged. From the earliest days of the +campaign, when he first faced Methuen upon the road to Kimberley, he had +shown that he was a most dangerous antagonist, tenacious, ingenious, and +indomitable. With him were a body of irreconcilable burghers, who +were the veterans of many engagements, and in Kemp he had an excellent +fighting subordinate. His command extended over a wide stretch +of populous country, and at any time he could bring considerable +reinforcements to his aid, who would separate again to their farms and +hiding-places when their venture was accomplished. For some weeks after +the fight at Moedwill the Boer forces remained quiet in that district. +Two British columns had left Zeerust on October 17th, under Methuen and +Von Donop, in order to sweep the surrounding country, the one working in +the direction of Elands River and the other in that of Rustenburg. They +returned to Zeerust twelve days later, after a successful foray, which +had been attended with much sniping and skirmishing, but only one action +which is worthy of record. + +This was fought on October 24th at a spot near Kleinfontein, upon the +Great Marico River, which runs to the north-east of Zeerust. Von Donop's +column was straggling through very broken and bush-covered country when +it was furiously charged in the flank and rear by two separate bodies +of burghers. Kemp, who commanded the flank attack, cut into the line of +wagons and destroyed eight of them, killing many of the Kaffir drivers, +before he could be driven off. De la Rey and Steenkamp, who rushed the +rear-guard, had a more desperate contest. The Boer horsemen got among +the two guns of the 4th R.F.A., and held temporary possession of them, +but the small escort were veterans of the 'Fighting Fifth,' who lived +up to the traditions of their famous north-country regiment. Of the +gun crews of the section, amounting to about twenty-six men, the young +officer, Hill, and sixteen men were hit. Of the escort of Northumberland +Fusiliers hardly a man was left standing, and forty-one of the +supporting Yeomanry were killed and wounded. It was for some little +time a fierce and concentrated struggle at the shortest of ranges. The +British horsemen came galloping to the rescue, however, and the attack +was finally driven back into that broken country from which it had +come. Forty dead Boers upon the ground, with their brave chieftain, +Ouisterhuisen, amongst them, showed how manfully the attack had been +driven home. The British losses were twenty-eight killed and fifty-six +wounded. Somewhat mauled, and with eight missing wagons, the small +column made its way back to Zeerust. + +From this incident until the end of the year nothing of importance +occurred in this part of the seat of war, save for a sharp and +well-managed action at Beestekraal upon October 29th, in which +seventy-nine Boers were surrounded and captured by Kekewich's horsemen. +The process of attrition went very steadily forwards, and each of the +British columns returned its constant tale of prisoners. The blockhouse +system had now been extended to such an extent that the Magaliesberg was +securely held, and a line had been pushed through from Klerksdorp and +Fredericstad to Ventersdorp. One of Colonel Hickie's Yeomanry patrols +was roughly handled near Brakspruit upon November 13th, but with this +exception the points scored were all upon one side. Methuen and Kekewich +came across early in November from Zeerust to Klerksdorp, and operated +from the railway line. The end of the year saw them both in the +Wolmaranstad district, where they were gathering up prisoners and +clearing the country. + +Of the events in the other parts of the Transvaal, during the last three +months of the year 1901, there is not much to be said. In all parts the +lines of blockhouses and of constabulary posts were neutralising the +Boer mobility, and bringing them more and more within reach of the +British. The only fighting forces left in the Transvaal were those +under Botha in the south-east and those under De la Rey in the west. The +others attempted nothing save to escape from their pursuers, and when +overtaken they usually gave in without serious opposition. Among the +larger hauls may be mentioned that of Dawkins in the Nylstrom district +(seventy-six prisoners), Kekewich (seventy-eight), Colenbrander in +the north (fifty-seven), Dawkins and Colenbrander (104), Colenbrander +(sixty-two); but the great majority of the captures were in smaller +bodies, gleaned from the caves, the kloofs, and the farmhouses. + +Only two small actions during these months appear to call for any +separate notice. The first was an attack made by Buys' commando, upon +November 20th, on the Railway Pioneers when at work near Villiersdorp, +in the extreme north-east of the Orange River Colony. This corps, +consisting mainly of miners from Johannesburg, had done invaluable +service during the war. On this occasion a working party of them was +suddenly attacked, and most of them taken prisoners. Major Fisher, +who commanded the pioneers, was killed, and three other officers with +several men were wounded. Colonel Rimington's column appeared upon the +scene, however, and drove off the Boers, who left their leader, Buys, a +wounded prisoner in our hands. + +The second action was a sharp attack delivered by Muller's Boers upon +Colonel Park's column on the night of December 19th, at Elandspruit. +The fight was sharp while it lasted, but it ended in the repulse of +the assailants. The British casualties were six killed and twenty-four +wounded. The Boers, who left eight dead behind them, suffered probably +to about the same extent. + +Already the most striking and pleasing feature in the Transvaal was +the tranquillity of its central provinces, and the way in which the +population was settling down to its old avocations. Pretoria had resumed +its normal quiet life, while its larger and more energetic neighbour +was rapidly recovering from its two years of paralysis. Every week +more stamps were dropped in the mines, and from month to month a steady +increase in the output showed that the great staple industry of the +place would soon be as vigorous as ever. Most pleasing of all was the +restoration of safety upon the railway lines, which, save for some +precautions at night, had resumed their normal traffic. When the +observer took his eyes from the dark clouds which shadowed every +horizon, he could not but rejoice at the ever-widening central stretch +of peaceful blue which told that the storm was nearing its end. + +Having now dealt with the campaign in the Transvaal down to the end of +1901, it only remains to bring the chronicle of the events in the Orange +River Colony down to the same date. Reference has already been made to +two small British reverses which occurred in September, the loss of two +guns to the south of the Waterworks near Bloemfontein, and the surprise +of the camp of Lord Lovat's Scouts. There were some indications at +this time that a movement had been planned through the passes of the +Drakensberg by a small Free State force which should aid Louis Botha's +invasion of Natal. The main movement was checked, however, and the +demonstration in aid of it came to nothing. + +The blockhouse system had been developed to a very complete extent +in the Orange River Colony, and the small bands of Boers found it +increasingly difficult to escape from the British columns who were for +ever at their heels. The southern portion of the country had been cut +off from the northern by a line which extended through Bloemfontein on +the east to the Basuto frontier, and on the west to Jacobsdal. To the +south of this line the Boer resistance had practically ceased, although +several columns moved continually through it, and gleaned up the broken +fragments of the commandos. The north-west had also settled down to +a large extent, and during the last three months of 1901 no action of +importance occurred in that region. Even in the turbulent north-east, +which had always been the centre of resistance, there was little +opposition to the British columns, which continued every week to send in +their tale of prisoners. Of the column commanders, Williams, Damant, +Du Moulin, Lowry Cole, and Wilson were the most successful. In their +operations they were much aided by the South African Constabulary. +One young officer of this force, Major Pack-Beresford, especially +distinguished himself by his gallantry and ability. His premature death +from enteric was a grave loss to the British army. Save for one skirmish +of Colonel Wilson's early in October, and another of Byng's on November +14th, there can hardly be said to have been any actual fighting until +the events late in December which I am about to describe. + +In the meanwhile the peaceful organisation of the country was being +pushed forward as rapidly as in the Transvaal, although here the +problems presented were of a different order, and the population an +exclusively Dutch one. The schools already showed a higher attendance +than in the days before the war, while a continual stream of burghers +presented themselves to take the oath of allegiance, and even to join +the ranks against their own irreconcilable countrymen, whom they looked +upon with justice as the real authors of their troubles. + +Towards the end of November there were signs that the word had gone +forth for a fresh concentration of the fighting Boers in their old +haunts in the Heilbron district, and early in December it was known that +the indefatigable De Wet was again in the field. He had remained quiet +so long that there had been persistent rumours of his injury and even +of his death, but he was soon to show that he was as alive as ever. +President Steyn was ill of a most serious complaint, caused possibly by +the mental and physical sufferings which he had undergone; but with an +indomitable resolution which makes one forget and forgive the fatuous +policy which brought him and his State to such a pass, he still appeared +in his Cape cart at the laager of the faithful remnant of his commandos. +To those who remembered how widespread was our conviction of the +half-heartedness of the Free Staters at the outbreak of the war, it was +indeed a revelation to see them after two years still making a stand +against the forces which had crushed them. + +It had been long evident that the present British tactics of scouring +the country and capturing the isolated burghers must in time bring the +war to a conclusion. From the Boer point of view the only hope, or at +least the only glory, lay in reassembling once more in larger bodies and +trying conclusions with some of the British columns. It was with this +purpose that De Wet early in December assembled Wessels, Manie Botha, +and others of his lieutenants, together with a force of about two +thousand men, in the Heilbron district. Small as this force was, it +was admirably mobile, and every man in it was a veteran, toughened and +seasoned by two years of constant fighting. De Wet's first operations +were directed against an isolated column of Colonel Wilson's, which was +surrounded within twenty miles of Heilbron. Rimington, in response to a +heliographic call for assistance, hurried with admirable promptitude to +the scene of action, and joined hands with Wilson. De Wet's men were as +numerous, however, as the two columns combined, and they harassed the +return march into Heilbron. A determined attack was made on the convoy +and on the rearguard, but it was beaten off. That night Rimington's camp +was fired into by a large body of Boers, but he had cleverly moved his +men away from the fires, so that no harm was done. The losses in these +operations were small, but with troops which had not been trained in +this method of fighting the situation would have been a serious one. +For a fortnight or more after this the burghers contented themselves +by skirmishing with British columns and avoiding a drive which Elliot's +forces made against them. On December 18th they took the offensive, +however, and within a week fought three actions, two of which ended in +their favour. + +News had come to British headquarters that Kaffir's Kop, to the +north-west of Bethlehem, was a centre of Boer activity. Three columns +were therefore turned in that direction, Elliot's, Barker's, and +Dartnell's. Some desultory skirmishing ensued, which was only remarkable +for the death of Haasbroek, a well-known Boer leader. As the columns +separated again, unable to find an objective, De Wet suddenly showed +one of them that their failure was not due to his absence. Dartnell had +retraced his steps nearly as far as Eland's River Bridge, when the Boer +leader sprang out of his lair in the Langberg and threw himself upon +him. The burghers attempted to ride in, as they had successfully done +at Brakenlaagte, but they were opposed by the steady old troopers of the +two regiments of Imperial Horse, and by a General who was familiar with +every Boer ruse. The horsemen never got nearer than 150 yards to the +British line, and were beaten back by the steady fire which met them. +Finding that he made no headway, and learning that Campbell's column +was coming up from Bethlehem, De Wet withdrew his men after four hours' +fighting. Fifteen were hit upon the British side, and the Boer loss +seems to have been certainly as great or greater. + +De Wet's general aim in his operations seems to have been to check the +British blockhouse building. With his main force in the Langberg he +could threaten the line which was now being erected between Bethlehem +and Harrismith, a line against which his main commando was destined, +only two months later, to beat itself in vain. Sixty miles to the north +a second line was being run across country from Frankfort to Standerton, +and had reached a place called Tafelkop. A covering party of East +Lancashires and Yeomanry watched over the workers, but De Wet had left +a portion of his force in that neighbourhood, and they harassed the +blockhouse builders to such an extent that General Hamilton, who was +in command, found it necessary to send in to Frankfort for support. +The British columns there had just returned exhausted from a drive, but +three bodies under Damant, Rimington, and Wilson were at once despatched +to clear away the enemy. + +The weather was so atrocious that the veld resembled an inland sea, with +the kopjes as islands rising out of it. By this stage of the war the +troops were hardened to all weathers, and they pushed swiftly on to the +scene of action. As they approached the spot where the Boers had been +reported, the line had been extended over many miles, with the result +that it had become very attenuated and dangerously weak in the centre. +At this point Colonel Damant and his small staff were alone with the two +guns and the maxim, save for a handful of Imperial Yeomanry (91st), who +acted as escort to the guns. Across the face of this small force there +rode a body of men in khaki uniforms, keeping British formation, and +actually firing bogus volleys from time to time in the direction of some +distant Boers. Damant and his staff seem to have taken it for granted +that these were Rimington's men, and the clever ruse succeeded to +perfection. Nearer and nearer came the strangers, and suddenly throwing +off all disguise, they made a dash for the guns. Four rounds of case +failed to stop them, and in a few minutes they were over the kopje on +which the guns stood and had ridden among the gunners, supported in +their attack by a flank fire from a number of dismounted riflemen. + +The instant that the danger was realised Damant, his staff, and the +forty Yeomen who formed the escort dashed for the crest in the hope of +anticipating the Boers. So rapid was the charge of the others that they +had overwhelmed the gunners before the supports could reach the hill, +and the latter found themselves under the deadly fire of the Boer +rifles from above. Damant was hit in four places, all of his staff +were wounded, and hardly a man of the small body of Yeomanry was left +standing. Nothing could exceed their gallantry. Gaussen their captain +fell at their head. On the ridge the men about the guns were nearly all +killed or wounded. Of the gun detachment only two men remained, both of +them hit, and Jeffcoat their dying captain bequeathed them fifty pounds +each in a will drawn upon the spot. In half an hour the centre of the +British line had been absolutely annihilated. Modern warfare is on the +whole much less bloody than of old, but when one party has gained the +tactical mastery it is a choice between speedy surrender and total +destruction. + +The wide-spread British wings had begun to understand that there was +something amiss, and to ride in towards the centre. An officer on the +far right peering through his glasses saw those tell-tale puffs at the +very muzzles of the British guns, which showed that they were firing +case at close quarters. He turned his squadron inwards and soon gathered +up Scott's squadron of Damant's Horse, and both rode for the kopje. +Rimington's men were appearing on the other side, and the Boers rode +off. They were unable to remove the guns which they had taken, because +all the horses had perished. 'I actually thought,' says one officer who +saw them ride away, 'that I had made a mistake and been fighting our +own men. They were dressed in our uniforms and some of them wore the +tiger-skin, the badge of Damant's Horse, round their hats.' The same +officer gives an account of the scene on the gun-kopje. 'The result +when we got to the guns was this, gunners all killed except two (both +wounded), pom-pom officers and men all killed, maxim all killed, 91st +(the gun escort) one officer and one man not hit, all the rest killed or +wounded; staff, every officer hit.' That is what it means to those +who are caught in the vortex of the cyclone. The total loss was about +seventy-five. + +In this action the Boers, who were under the command of Wessels, +delivered their attack with a cleverness and dash which deserved +success. Their stratagem, however, depending as it did upon the use of +British uniforms and methods, was illegitimate by all the laws of war, +and one can but marvel at the long-suffering patience of officers and +men who endured such things without any attempt at retaliation. There is +too much reason to believe also, that considerable brutality was shown +by those Boers who carried the kopje, and the very high proportion +of killed to wounded among the British who lay there corroborates the +statement of the survivors that several were shot at close quarters +after all resistance had ceased. + +This rough encounter of Tafelkop was followed only four days later by a +very much more serious one at Tweefontein, which proved that even after +two years of experience we had not yet sufficiently understood the +courage and the cunning of our antagonist. The blockhouse line was being +gradually extended from Harrismith to Bethlehem, so as to hold down this +turbulent portion of the country. The Harrismith section had been pushed +as far as Tweefontein, which is nine miles west of Elands River Bridge, +and here a small force was stationed to cover the workers. This column +consisted of four squadrons of the 4th Imperial Yeomanry, one gun of the +79th battery, and one pom-pom, the whole under the temporary command of +Major Williams of the South Staffords, Colonel Firmin being absent. + +Knowing that De Wet and his men were in the neighbourhood, the camp +of the Yeomen had been pitched in a position which seemed to secure it +against attack. A solitary kopje presented a long slope to the north, +while the southern end was precipitous. The outposts were pushed well +out upon the plain, and a line of sentries was placed along the crest. +The only precaution which seems to have been neglected was to have other +outposts at the base of the southern declivity. It appears to have been +taken for granted, however, that no attack was to be apprehended from +that side, and that in any case it would be impossible to evade the +vigilance of the sentries upon the top. + +Of all the daring and skilful attacks delivered by the Boers during +the war there is certainly none more remarkable than this one. At +two o'clock in the morning of a moonlight night De Wet's forlorn hope +assembled at the base of the hill and clambered up to the summit. The +fact that it was Christmas Eve may conceivably have had something to do +with the want of vigilance upon the part of the sentries. In a season +of good will and conviviality the rigour of military discipline may +insensibly relax. Little did the sleeping Yeomen in the tents, or the +drowsy outposts upon the crest, think of the terrible Christmas visitors +who were creeping on to them, or of the grim morning gift which Santa +Claus was bearing. + +The Boers, stealing up in their stockinged feet, poured under the +crest until they were numerous enough to make a rush. It is almost +inconceivable how they could have got so far without their presence +being suspected by the sentries--but so it was. At last, feeling +strong enough to advance, they sprang over the crest and fired into the +pickets, and past them into the sleeping camp. The top of the hill being +once gained, there was nothing to prevent their comrades from swarming +up, and in a very few minutes nearly a thousand Boers were in a position +to command the camp. The British were not only completely outnumbered, +but were hurried from their sleep into the fight without any clear idea +as to the danger or how to meet it, while the hissing sleet of bullets +struck many of them down as they rushed out of their tents. Considering +how terrible the ordeal was to which they were exposed, these untried +Yeomen seem to have behaved very well. 'Some brave gentlemen ran away at +the first shot, but I am thankful to say they were not many,' says one +of their number. The most veteran troops would have been tried very high +had they been placed in such a position. 'The noise and the clamour,' +says one spectator, 'were awful. The yells of the Dutch, the screams and +shrieks of dying men and horses, the cries of natives, howls of dogs, +the firing, the galloping of horses, the whistling of bullets, and the +whirr volleys make in the air, made up such a compound of awful and +diabolical sounds as I never heard before nor hope to hear again. In the +confusion some of the men killed each other and some killed themselves. +Two Boers who put on helmets were killed by their own people. The +men were given no time to rally or to collect their thoughts, for +the gallant Boers barged right into them, shooting them down, and +occasionally being shot down, at a range of a few yards. Harwich and +Watney, who had charge of the maxim, died nobly with all the men of +their gun section round them. Reed, the sergeant-major, rushed at +the enemy with his clubbed rifle, but was riddled with bullets. Major +Williams, the commander, was shot through the stomach as he rallied +his men. The gunners had time to fire two rounds before they were +overpowered and shot down to a man. For half an hour the resistance was +maintained, but at the end of that time the Boers had the whole camp in +their possession, and were already hastening to get their prisoners away +before the morning should bring a rescue. + +The casualties are in themselves enough to show how creditable was the +resistance of the Yeomanry. Out of a force of under four hundred men +they had six officers and fifty-one men killed, eight officers and +eighty men wounded. There have been very few surrenders during the war +in which there has been such evidence as this of a determined stand. +Nor was it a bloodless victory upon the part of the Boers, for there was +evidence that their losses, though less than those of the British, were +still severe. + +The prisoners, over two hundred in number, were hurried away by the +Boers, who seemed under the immediate eye of De Wet to have behaved with +exemplary humanity to the wounded. The captives were taken by forced +marches to the Basuto border, where they were turned adrift, half clad +and without food. By devious ways and after many adventures, they all +made their way back again to the British lines. It was well for De Wet +that he had shown such promptness in getting away, for within three +hours of the end of the action the two regiments of Imperial Horse +appeared upon the scene, having travelled seventeen miles in the time. +Already, however, the rearguard of the Boers was disappearing into the +fastness of the Langberg, where all pursuit was vain. + +Such was the short but vigorous campaign of De Wet in the last part of +December of the year 1901. It had been a brilliant one, but none the +less his bolt was shot, and Tweefontein was the last encounter in which +British troops should feel his heavy hand. His operations, bold as they +had been, had not delayed by a day the building of that iron cage which +was gradually enclosing him. Already it was nearly completed, and in +a few more weeks he was destined to find himself and his commando +struggling against bars. + + + +CHAPTER 37. THE CAMPAIGN OF JANUARY TO APRIL, 1902. + +At the opening of the year 1902 it was evident to every observer that +the Boer resistance, spirited as it was, must be nearing its close. By +a long succession of captures their forces were much reduced in numbers. +They were isolated from the world, and had no means save precarious +smuggling of renewing their supplies of ammunition. It was known +also that their mobility, which had been their great strength, was +decreasing, and that in spite of their admirable horsemastership their +supply of remounts was becoming exhausted. An increasing number of the +burghers were volunteering for service against their own people, and it +was found that all fears as to this delicate experiment were misplaced, +and that in the whole army there were no keener and more loyal soldiers. + +The chief factor, however, in bringing the Boers to their knees was the +elaborate and wonderful blockhouse system, which had been strung across +the whole of the enemy's country. The original blockhouses had been far +apart, and were a hindrance and an annoyance rather than an absolute +barrier to the burghers. The new models, however, were only six hundred +yards apart, and were connected by such impenetrable strands of wire +that a Boer pithily described it by saying that if one's hat blew over +the line anywhere between Ermelo and Standerton one had to walk round +Ermelo to fetch it. Use was made of such barriers by the Spaniards in +Cuba, but an application of them on such a scale over such an enormous +tract of country is one of the curiosities of warfare, and will remain +one of several novelties which will make the South African campaign for +ever interesting to students of military history. + +The spines of this great system were always the railway lines, which +were guarded on either side, and down which, as down a road, went +flocks, herds, pedestrians, and everything which wished to travel in +safety. From these long central cords the lines branched out to right +and left, cutting up the great country into manageable districts. A +category of them would but weary the reader, but suffice it that by the +beginning of the year the south-east of the Transvaal and the north-east +of the Orange River Colony, the haunts of Botha and De Wet, had been +so intersected that it was obvious that the situation must soon be +impossible for both of them. Only on the west of the Transvaal was there +a clear run for De la Rey and Kemp. Hence it was expected, as actually +occurred, that in this quarter the most stirring events of the close of +the campaign would happen. + +General Bruce Hamilton in the Eastern Transvaal had continued the +energetic tactics which had given such good results in the past. With +the new year his number of prisoners fell, but he had taken so many, and +had hustled the remainder to such an extent, that the fight seemed to +have gone out of the Boers in this district. On January 1st he presented +the first-fruits of the year in the shape of twenty-two of Grobler's +burghers. On the 3rd he captured forty-nine, while Wing, co-operating +with him, took twenty more. Among these was General Erasmus, who had +helped, or failed to help, General Lucas Meyer at Talana Hill. On the +10th Colonel Wing's column, which was part of Hamilton's force, struck +out again and took forty-two prisoners, including the two Wolmarans. +Only two days later Hamilton returned to the same spot, and was rewarded +with thirty-two more captures. On the 18th he took twenty-seven, on the +24th twelve, and on the 26th no fewer than ninety. So severe were these +blows, and so difficult was it for the Boers to know how to get away +from an antagonist who was ready to ride thirty miles in a night in +order to fall upon their laager, that the enemy became much scattered +and too demoralised for offensive operations. Finding that they had +grown too shy in this much shot over district, Hamilton moved farther +south, and early in March took a cast round the Vryheid district, where +he made some captures, notably General Cherry Emmett, a descendant of +the famous Irish rebel, and brother-in-law of Louis Botha. For all these +repeated successes it was to the Intelligence Department, so admirably +controlled by Colonel Wools-Sampson, that thanks are mainly due. + +Whilst Bruce Hamilton was operating so successfully in the Ermelo +district, several British columns under Plumer, Spens, and Colville were +stationed some fifty miles south to prevent the fugitives from +getting away into the mountainous country which lies to the north of +Wakkerstroom. On January 3rd a small force of Plumer's New Zealanders +had a brisk skirmish with a party of Boers, whose cattle they captured, +though at some loss to themselves. These Boers were strongly reinforced, +however, and when on the following day Major Vallentin pursued them +with fifty men he found himself at Onverwacht in the presence of several +hundred of the enemy, led by Oppermann and Christian Botha. Vallentin +was killed and almost all of his small force were hit before British +reinforcements, under Colonel Pulteney, drove the Boers off. Nineteen +killed and twenty-three wounded were our losses in this most sanguinary +little skirmish. Nine dead Boers, with Oppermann himself, were left upon +the field of battle. His loss was a serious one to the enemy, as he was +one of their most experienced Generals. + +From that time until the end these columns, together with Mackenzie's +column to the north of Ermelo, continued to break up all combinations, +and to send in their share of prisoners to swell Lord Kitchener's weekly +list. A final drive, organised on April 11th against the Standerton +line, resulted in 134 prisoners. + +In spite of the very large army in South Africa, so many men were +absorbed by the huge lines of communications and the blockhouse system +that the number available for active operations was never more than +forty or fifty thousand men. With another fifty thousand there is no +doubt that at least six months would have been taken from the duration +of the war. On account of this shorthandedness Lord Kitchener had to +leave certain districts alone, while he directed his attention to those +which were more essential. Thus to the north of the Delagoa Railway line +there was only one town, Lydenburg, which was occupied by the British. +They had, however, an energetic commander in Park of the Devons. This +leader, striking out from his stronghold among the mountains, and +aided by Urmston from Belfast, kept the commando of Ben Viljoen and the +peripatetic Government of Schalk Burger continually upon the move. As +already narrated, Park fought a sharp night action upon December 19th, +after which, in combination with Urmston, he occupied Dulstroom, only +missing the government by a few hours. In January Park and Urmston were +again upon the war-path, though the incessant winds, fogs, and rains of +that most inclement portion of the Transvaal seriously hampered +their operations. Several skirmishes with the commandos of Muller and +Trichardt gave no very decisive result, but a piece of luck befell +the British on January 25th in the capture of General Viljoen by +an ambuscade cleverly arranged by Major Orr in the neighbourhood of +Lydenburg. Though a great firebrand before the war, Viljoen had fought +bravely and honourably throughout the contest, and he had won the +respect and esteem of his enemy. + +Colonel Park had had no great success in his last two expeditions, but +on February 20th he made an admirable march, and fell upon a Boer laager +which lay in placid security in the heart of the hills. One hundred and +sixty-four prisoners, including many Boer officers, were the fruits of +this success, in which the National Scouts, or 'tame Boers,' as they +were familiarly called, played a prominent part. This commando was that +of Middelburg, which was acting as escort to the government, who again +escaped dissolution. Early in March Park was again out on trek, upon +one occasion covering seventy miles in a single day. Nothing further of +importance came from this portion of the seat of war until March 23rd, +when the news reached England that Schalk Burger, Reitz, Lucas Meyer, +and others of the Transvaal Government had come into Middelburg, and +that they were anxious to proceed to Pretoria to treat. On the Eastern +horizon had appeared the first golden gleam of the dawning peace. + +Having indicated the course of events in the Eastern Transvaal, north +and south of the railway line, I will now treat one or two incidents +which occurred in the more central and northern portions of the country. +I will then give some account of De Wet's doings in the Orange River +Colony, and finally describe that brilliant effort of De la Rey's in the +west which shed a last glory upon the Boer arms. + +In the latter days of December, Colenbrander and Dawkins operating +together had put in a great deal of useful work in the northern +district, and from Nylstrom to Pietersburg the burghers were continually +harried by the activity of these leaders. Late in the month Dawkins was +sent down into the Orange River Colony in order to reinforce the troops +who were opposed to De Wet. Colenbrander alone, with his hardy colonial +forces, swept through the Magaliesburg, and had the double satisfaction +of capturing a number of the enemy and of heading off and sending back a +war party of Linchwe's Kaffirs who, incensed by a cattle raid of +Kemp's, were moving down in a direction which would have brought them +dangerously near to the Dutch women and children. This instance and +several similar ones in the campaign show how vile are the lies which +have been told of the use, save under certain well-defined conditions, +of armed natives by the British during the war. It would have been a +perfectly easy thing at any time for the Government to have raised all +the fighting native races of South Africa, but it is not probable +that we, who held back our admirable and highly disciplined Sikhs and +Ghoorkas, would break our self-imposed restrictions in order to enrol +the inferior but more savage races of Africa. Yet no charge has been +more often repeated and has caused more piteous protests among the +soft-hearted and soft-headed editors of Continental journals. + +The absence of Colenbrander in the Rustenburg country gave Beyers a +chance of which he was not slow to avail himself. On January 24th, in +the early morning, he delivered an attack upon Pietersburg itself, but +he was easily driven off by the small garrison. It is probable, however, +that the attack was a mere feint in order to enable a number of the +inmates of the refugee camp to escape. About a hundred and fifty made +off, and rejoined the commandos. There were three thousand Boers in all +in this camp, which was shortly afterwards moved down to Natal in order +to avoid the recurrence of such an incident. + +Colenbrander, having returned to Pietersburg once more, determined to +return Beyers's visit, and upon April 8th he moved out with a small +force to surprise the Boer laager. The Inniskilling Fusiliers seized the +ground which commanded the enemy's position. The latter retreated, +but were followed up, and altogether about one hundred and fifty were +killed, wounded, and taken. On May 3rd a fresh operation against Beyers +was undertaken, and resulted in about the same loss to the Boers. On the +other hand, the Boers had a small success against Kitchener's Scouts, +killing eighteen and taking thirty prisoners. + +There is one incident, however, in connection with the war in this +region which one would desire to pass over in silence if such a course +were permissible. Some eighty miles to the east of Pietersburg is a wild +part of the country called the Spelonken. In this region an irregular +corps, named the Bushveld Carbineers, had been operating. It was raised +in South Africa, but contained both Colonials and British in its ranks. +Its wild duties, its mixed composition, and its isolated situation must +have all militated against discipline and restraint, and it appears to +have degenerated into a band not unlike those Southern 'bush-whackers' +in the American war to whom the Federals showed little mercy. They +had given short shrift to the Boer prisoners who had fallen into their +hands, the excuse offered for their barbarous conduct being that an +officer who had served in the corps had himself been murdered by the +Boers. Such a reason, even if it were true, could of course offer no +justification for indiscriminate revenge. The crimes were committed in +July and August 1901, but it was not until January 1902 that five of +the officers were put upon their trial and were found to be guilty as +principals or accessories of twelve murders. The corps was disbanded, +and three of the accused officers, Handcock, Wilton, and Morant, were +sentenced to death, while another, Picton, was cashiered. Handcock and +Morant were actually executed. This stern measure shows more clearly +than volumes of argument could do how high was the standard of +discipline in the British Army, and how heavy was the punishment, and +how vain all excuses, where it had been infringed. In the face of this +actual outrage and its prompt punishment how absurd becomes that crusade +against imaginary outrages preached by an ignorant press abroad, and by +renegade Englishmen at home. + +To the south of Johannesburg, half-way between that town and the +frontier, there is a range of hills called the Zuikerboschrand, which +extends across from one railway system to the other. A number of Boers +were known to have sought refuge in this country, so upon February 12th +a small British force left Klip River Post in order to clear them out. +There were 320 men in all, composing the 28th Mounted Infantry, drawn +from the Lancashire Fusiliers, Warwicks, and Derbys, most of whom had +just arrived from Malta, which one would certainly imagine to be the +last place where mounted infantry could be effectively trained. Major +Dowell was in command. An advance was made into the hilly country, but +it was found that the enemy was in much greater force than had been +imagined. The familiar Boer tactics were used with the customary +success. The British line was held by a sharp fire in front, while +strong flanking parties galloped round each of the wings. It was with +great difficulty that any of the British extricated themselves from +their perilous position, and the safety of a portion of the force was +only secured by the devotion of a handful of officers and men, who gave +their lives in order to gain time for their comrades to get away. Twelve +killed and fifty wounded were our losses in this unfortunate skirmish, +and about one hundred prisoners supplied the victors with a useful +addition to their rifles and ammunition. A stronger British force came +up next day, and the enemy were driven out of the hills. + +A week later, upon February 18th, there occurred another skirmish at +Klippan, near Springs, between a squadron of the Scots Greys and a party +of Boers who had broken into this central reserve which Lord Kitchener +had long kept clear of the enemy. In this action the cavalry were +treated as roughly as the mounted infantry had been the week before, +losing three officers killed, eight men killed or wounded, and forty-six +taken. They had formed a flanking party to General Gilbert Hamilton's +column, but were attacked and overwhelmed so rapidly that the blow had +fallen before their comrades could come to their assistance. + +One of the consequences of the successful drives about to be described +in the Orange River Colony was that a number of the Free Staters came +north of the Vaal in order to get away from the extreme pressure upon +the south. At the end of March a considerable number had reinforced the +local commandos in that district to the east of Springs, no very great +distance from Johannesburg, which had always been a storm centre. A +cavalry force was stationed at this spot which consisted at that time +of the 2nd Queen's Bays, the 7th Hussars, and some National Scouts, all +under Colonel Lawley of the Hussars. After a series of minor engagements +east of Springs, Lawley had possessed himself of Boschman's Kop, +eighteen miles from that town, close to the district which was the chief +scene of Boer activity. From this base he despatched upon the morning +of April 1st three squadrons of the Bays under Colonel Fanshawe, for the +purpose of surprising a small force of the enemy which was reported at +one of the farms. Fanshawe's strength was about three hundred men. + +The British cavalry found themselves, however, in the position of the +hunter who, when he is out for a snipe, puts up a tiger. All went well +with the expedition as far as Holspruit, the farm which they had started +to search. Commandant Pretorius, to whom it belonged, was taken by the +energy of Major Vaughan, who pursued and overtook his Cape cart. It was +found, however, that Alberts's commando was camped at the farm, and that +the Bays were in the presence of a very superior force of the enemy. The +night was dark, and when firing began it was almost muzzle to muzzle, +with the greatest possible difficulty in telling friend from foe. The +three squadrons fell back upon some rising ground, keeping admirable +order under most difficult circumstances. In spite of the darkness the +attack was pressed fiercely home, and with their favourite tactics the +burghers rapidly outflanked the position taken up by the cavalry. The +British moved by alternate squadrons on to a higher rocky kopje on +the east, which could be vaguely distinguished looming in the darkness +against the skyline. B squadron, the last to retire, was actually +charged and ridden through by the brave assailants, firing from their +saddles as they broke through the ranks. The British had hardly time +to reach the kopje and to dismount and line its edge when the Boers, +yelling loudly, charged with their horses up the steep flanks. Twice +they were beaten back, but the third time they seized one corner of the +hill and opened a hot fire upon the rear of the line of men who were +defending the other side. Dawn was now breaking, and the situation most +serious, for the Boers were in very superior numbers and were pushing +their pursuit with the utmost vigour and determination. A small party of +officers and men whose horses had been shot covered the retreat of their +comrades, and continued to fire until all of them, two officers and +twenty-three men, were killed or wounded, the whole of their desperate +defence being conducted within from thirty to fifty yards of the enemy. +The remainder of the regiment was now retired to successive ridges, +each of which was rapidly outflanked by the Boers, whose whole method +of conducting their attack was extraordinarily skilful. Nothing but the +excellent discipline of the overmatched troopers prevented the +retreat from becoming a rout. Fortunately, before the pressure became +intolerable the 7th Hussars with some artillery came to the rescue, and +turned the tide. The Hussars galloped in with such dash that some of +them actually got among the Boers with their swords, but the enemy +rapidly fell back and disappeared. + +In this very sharp and sanguinary cavalry skirmish the Bays lost eighty +killed and wounded out of a total force of 270. To stand such losses +under such circumstances, and to preserve absolute discipline and order, +is a fine test of soldierly virtue. The adjutant, the squadron leaders, +and six out of ten officers were killed or wounded. The Boers lost +equally heavily. Two Prinsloos, one of them a commandant, and three +field-cornets were among the slain, with seventy other casualties. The +force under General Alberts was a considerable one, not fewer than +six hundred rifles, so that the action at Holspruit is one which adds +another name of honour to the battle-roll of the Bays. It is pleasing to +add that in this and the other actions which were fought at the end of +the war our wounded met with kindness and consideration from the enemy. + +We may now descend to the Orange River Colony and trace the course of +those operations which were destined to break the power of De Wet's +commando. On these we may concentrate our attention, for the marchings +and gleanings and snipings of the numerous small columns in the other +portions of the colony, although they involved much arduous and useful +work, do not claim a particular account. + +After the heavy blow which he dealt Firmin's Yeomanry, De Wet retired, +as has been told, into the Langberg, whence he afterwards retreated +towards Reitz. There he was energetically pushed by Elliot's columns, +which had attained such mobility that 150 miles were performed in three +days within a single week. Our rough schoolmasters had taught us our +lesson, and the soldiering which accomplished the marches of Bruce +Hamilton, Elliot, Rimington, and the other leaders of the end of the war +was very far removed from that which is associated with ox-wagons and +harmoniums. + +Moving rapidly, and covering himself by a succession of rearguard +skirmishes, De Wet danced like a will-o'the-wisp in front of and round +the British columns. De Lisle, Fanshawe, Byng, Rimington, Dawkins, and +Rawlinson were all snatching at him and finding him just beyond their +finger-tips. The master-mind at Pretoria had, however, thought out a +scheme which was worthy of De Wet himself in its ingenuity. A glance +at the map will show that the little branch from Heilbron to Wolvehoek +forms an acute angle with the main line. Both these railways were +strongly blockhoused and barbed-wired, so that any force which was +driven into the angle, and held in it by a force behind it, would be in +a perilous position. To attempt to round De Wet's mobile burghers into +this obvious pen would have been to show one's hand too clearly. In vain +is the net laid in sight of the bird. The drive was therefore made away +from this point, with the confident expectation that the guerilla chief +would break back through the columns, and that they might then pivot +round upon him and hustle him so rapidly into the desired position that +he would not realise his danger until it was too late. Byng's column +was left behind the driving line to be ready for the expected backward +break. All came off exactly as expected. De Wet doubled back through +the columns, and one of his commandos stumbled upon Byng's men, who were +waiting on the Vlei River to the west of Reitz. The Boers seem to have +taken it for granted that, having passed the British driving line, they +were out of danger, and for once it was they who were surprised. The +South African Light Horse, the New Zealanders, and the Queensland +Bushmen all rode in upon them. A fifteen-pounder, the one taken at +Tweefontein, and two pom-poms were captured, with thirty prisoners and a +considerable quantity of stores. + +This successful skirmish was a small matter, however, compared to the +importance of being in close touch with De Wet and having a definite +objective for the drive. The columns behind expanded suddenly into a +spray of mounted men forming a continuous line for over sixty miles. On +February 5th the line was advancing, and on the 6th it was known that De +Wet was actually within the angle, the mouth of which was spanned by +the British line. Hope ran high in Pretoria. The space into which +the burgher chief had been driven was bounded by sixty-six miles of +blockhouse and wire on one side and thirty on the other, while the +third side of the triangle was crossed by fifty-five miles of British +horsemen, flanked by a blockhouse line between Kroonstad and Lindley. +The tension along the lines of defence was extreme. Infantry guarded +every yard of them, and armoured trains patrolled them, while at night +searchlights at regular intervals shed their vivid rays over the black +expanse of the veld and illuminated the mounted figures who flitted from +time to time across their narrow belts of light. + +On the 6th De Wet realised his position, and with characteristic +audacity and promptness he took means to clear the formidable toils +which had been woven round him. The greater part of his command +scattered, with orders to make their way as best they might out of the +danger. Working in their own country, where every crease and fold of +the ground was familiar to them, it is not surprising that most of +them managed to make their way through gaps in the attenuated line +of horsemen behind them. A few were killed, and a considerable number +taken, 270 being the respectable total of the prisoners. Three or four +slipped through, however, for every one who stuck in the meshes. De Wet +himself was reported to have made his escape by driving cattle against +the wire fences which enclosed him. It seems, however, to have been +nothing more romantic than a wire-cutter which cleared his path, though +cattle no doubt made their way through the gap which he left. With a +loss of only three of his immediate followers be Wet won his way out of +the most dangerous position which even his adventurous career had ever +known. Lord Kitchener had descended to Wolvehoek to be present at the +climax of the operations, but it was not fated that he was to receive +the submission of the most energetic of his opponents, and he returned +to Pretoria to weave a fresh mesh around him. + +This was not hard to do, as the Boer General had simply escaped from one +pen into another, though a larger one. After a short rest to restore the +columns, the whole pack were full cry upon his heels once more. An +acute angle is formed by the Wilge River on one side and the line of +blockhouses between Harrismith and Van Reenen upon the other. This was +strongly manned by troops and five columns; those of Rawlinson, Nixon, +Byng, Rimington, and Keir herded the broken commandos into the trap. +From February 20th the troops swept in an enormous skirmish line across +the country, ascending hills, exploring kloofs, searching river banks, +and always keeping the enemy in front of them. At last, when the +pressure was severely felt, there came the usual breakback, which took +the form of a most determined night attack upon the British line. This +was delivered shortly after midnight on February 23rd. It struck the +British cordon at the point of juncture between Byng's column and that +of Rimington. So huge were the distances which had to be covered, and +so attenuated was the force which covered them, that the historical thin +red line was a massive formation compared to its khaki equivalent. The +chain was frail and the links were not all carefully joined, but each +particular link was good metal, and the Boer impact came upon one of the +best. This was the 7th New Zealand Contingent, who proved themselves to +be worthy comrades to their six gallant predecessors. Their patrols were +broken by the rush of wild, yelling, firing horsemen, but the troopers +made a most gallant resistance. Having pierced the line the Boers, who +were led in their fiery rush by Manie Botha, turned to their flank, and, +charging down the line of weak patrols, overwhelmed one after another +and threatened to roll up the whole line. They had cleared a gap of half +a mile, and it seemed as if the whole Boer force would certainly escape +through so long a gap in the defences. The desperate defence of the New +Zealanders gave time, however, for the further patrols, which consisted +of Cox's New South Wales Mounted Infantry, to fall back almost at right +angles so as to present a fresh face to the attack. The pivot of the +resistance was a maxim gun, most gallantly handled by Captain Begbie and +his men. The fight at this point was almost muzzle to muzzle, fifty or +sixty New Zealanders and Australians with the British gunners holding +off a force of several hundred of the best fighting men of the Boer +forces. In this desperate duel many dropped on both sides. Begbie died +beside his gun, which fired eighty rounds before it jammed. It was run +back by its crew in order to save it from capture. But reinforcements +were coming up, and the Boer attack was beaten back. A number of them +had escaped, however, through the opening which they had cleared, and it +was conjectured that the wonderful De Wet was among them. How fierce was +the storm which had broken on the New Zealanders may be shown by their +roll of twenty killed and forty wounded, while thirty dead Boers were +picked up in front of their picket line. Of eight New Zealand officers +seven are reported to have been hit, an even higher proportion than that +which the same gallant race endured at the battle of Rhenoster Kop more +than a year before. + +It was feared at first that the greater part of the Boers might have +escaped upon this night of the 23rd, when Manie Botha's storming party +burst through the ranks of the New Zealanders. It was soon discovered +that this was not so, and the columns as they closed in had evidence +from the numerous horsemen who scampered aimlessly over the hills in +front of them that the main body of the enemy was still in the toils. +The advance was in tempestuous weather and over rugged country, but the +men were filled with eagerness, and no precaution was neglected to keep +the line intact. + +This time their efforts were crowned with considerable success. A second +attempt was made by the corraled burghers to break out on the night +of February 26th, but it was easily repulsed by Nixon. The task of the +troopers as the cordon drew south was more and more difficult, and there +were places traversed upon the Natal border where an alpen stock would +have been a more useful adjunct than a horse. At six o'clock on the +morning of the 27th came the end. Two Boers appeared in front of the +advancing line of the Imperial Light Horse and held up a flag. They +proved to be Truter and De Jager, ready to make terms for their +commando. The only terms offered were absolute surrender within the +hour. The Boers had been swept into a very confined space, which was +closely hemmed in by troops, so that any resistance must have ended in a +tragedy. Fortunately there was no reason for desperate councils in their +case, since they did not fight as Lotter had done, with the shadow of +judgment hanging over him. The burghers piled arms, and all was over. + +The total number captured in this important drive was 780 men, including +several leaders, one of whom was De Wet's own son. It was found that +De Wet himself had been among those who had got away through the picket +lines on the night of the 23rd. Most of the commando were Transvaalers, +and it was typical of the wide sweep of the net that many of them were +the men who had been engaged against the 28th Mounted Infantry in the +district south of Johannesburg upon the 12th of the same month. The loss +of 2000 horses and 50,000 cartridges meant as much as that of the men to +the Boer army. It was evident that a few more such blows would clear the +Orange River Colony altogether. + +The wearied troopers were allowed little rest, for in a couple of days +after their rendezvous at Harrismith they were sweeping back again to +pick up all that they had missed. This drive, which was over the same +ground, but sweeping backwards towards the Heilbron to Wolvehoek line, +ended in the total capture of 147 of the enemy, who were picked out of +holes, retrieved from amid the reeds of the river, called down out of +trees, or otherwise collected. So thorough were the operations that it +is recorded that the angle which formed the apex of the drive was one +drove of game upon the last day, all the many types of antelope, which +form one of the characteristics and charms of the country, having been +herded into it. + +More important even than the results of the drive was the discovery of +one of De Wet's arsenals in a cave in the Vrede district. Half-way down +a precipitous krantz, with its mouth covered by creepers, no writer of +romance could have imagined a more fitting headquarters for a guerilla +chief. The find was made by Ross's Canadian Scouts, who celebrated +Dominion Day by this most useful achievement. Forty wagon-loads of +ammunition and supplies were taken out of the cave. De Wet was known to +have left the north-east district, and to have got across the railway, +travelling towards the Vaal as if it were his intention to join De +la Rey in the Transvaal. The Boer resistance had suddenly become +exceedingly energetic in that part, and several important actions had +been fought, to which we will presently turn. + +Before doing so it would be as well to bring the chronicle of events +in the Orange River Colony down to the conclusion of peace. There were +still a great number of wandering Boers in the northern districts and +in the frontier mountains, who were assiduously, but not always +successfully, hunted down by the British troops. Much arduous and useful +work was done by several small columns, the Colonial Horse and the +Artillery Mounted Rifles especially distinguishing themselves. The +latter corps, formed from the gunners whose field-pieces were no longer +needed, proved themselves to be a most useful body of men; and the +British gunner, when he took to carrying his gun, vindicated the +reputation which he had won when his gun had carried him. + +From the 1st to the 4th of May a successful drive was conducted by many +columns in the often harried but never deserted Lindley to Kroonstad +district. The result was propitious, as no fewer than 321 prisoners were +brought in. Of these, 150 under Mentz were captured in one body as they +attempted to break through the encircling cordon. + +Amid many small drives and many skirmishes, one stands out for its +severity. It is remarkable as being the last action of any importance +in the campaign. This was the fight at Moolman's Spruit, near Ficksburg, +upon April 20th, 1902. A force of about one hundred Yeomanry and forty +Mounted Infantry (South Staffords) was despatched by night to attack +an isolated farm in which a small body of Boers was supposed to be +sleeping. Colonel Perceval was in command. The farm was reached after a +difficult march, but the enemy were found to have been forewarned, and +to be in much greater strength than was anticipated. A furious fire was +opened on the advancing troops, who were clearly visible in the light +of a full moon. Sir Thomas Fowler was killed and several men of the +Yeomanry were hit. The British charged up to the very walls, but were +unable to effect an entrance, as the place was barricaded and loopholed. +Captain Blackwood, of the Staffords, was killed in the attack. Finding +that the place was impregnable, and that the enemy outnumbered him, +Colonel Perceval gave the order to retire, a movement which was only +successfully carried out because the greater part of the Boer horses +had been shot. By morning the small British force had extricated itself, +from its perilous position with a total loss of six killed, nineteen +wounded, and six missing. The whole affair was undoubtedly a cleverly +planned Boer ambush, and the small force was most fortunate in escaping +destruction. + +One other isolated incident may be mentioned here, though it occurred +far away in the Vryheid district of the Transvaal. This was the +unfortunate encounter between Zulus and Boers by which the latter lost +over fifty of their numbers under deplorable circumstances. This portion +of the Transvaal has only recently been annexed, and is inhabited by +warlike Zulus, who are very different from the debased Kaffirs of the +rest of the country. These men had a blood-feud against the Boers, +which was embittered by the fact that they had lost heavily through Boer +depredations. Knowing that a party of fifty-nine men were sleeping in +a farmhouse, the Zulus crept on to it and slaughtered every man of the +inmates. Such an incident is much to be regretted, and yet, looking back +upon the long course of the war, and remembering the turbulent tribes +who surrounded the combatants--Swazis, Basutos, and Zulus--we may well +congratulate ourselves that we have been able to restrain those black +warriors, and to escape the brutalities and the bitter memories of a +barbarian invasion. + + + +CHAPTER 38. DE LA REY'S CAMPAIGN OF 1902. + +IT will be remembered that at the close of 1901 Lord Methuen and Colonel +Kekewich had both come across to the eastern side of their district and +made their base at the railway line in the Klerksdorp section. Their +position was strengthened by the fact that a blockhouse cordon now ran +from Klerksdorp to Ventersdorp, and from Ventersdorp to Potchefstroom, +so that this triangle could be effectively controlled. There remained, +however, a huge tract of difficult country which was practically in the +occupation of the enemy. Several thousand stalwarts were known to be +riding with De la Rey and his energetic lieutenant Kemp. The strenuous +operations of the British in the Eastern Transvaal and in the Orange +River Colony had caused this district to be comparatively neglected, +and so everything was in favour of an aggressive movement of the Boers. +There was a long lull after the unsuccessful attack upon Kekewich's camp +at Moedwill, but close observers of the war distrusted this ominous calm +and expected a storm to follow. + +The new year found the British connecting Ventersdorp with Tafelkop by +a blockhouse line. The latter place had been a centre of Boer activity. +Colonel Hickie's column covered this operation. Meanwhile Methuen +had struck across through Wolmaranstad as far as Vryburg. In these +operations, which resulted in constant small captures, he was assisted +by a column under Major Paris working from Kimberley. From Vryburg Lord +Methuen made his way in the middle of January to Lichtenburg, meeting +with a small rebuff in the neighbourhood of that town, for a detachment +of Yeomanry was overwhelmed by General Celliers, who killed eight, +wounded fifteen, and captured forty. From Lichtenburg Lord Methuen +continued his enormous trek, and arrived on February 1st at Klerksdorp +once more. Little rest was given to his hard-worked troops, and they +were sent off again within the week under the command of Von Donop, +with the result that on February 8th, near Wolmaranstad, they captured +Potgieter's laager with forty Boer prisoners. Von Donop remained at +Wolmaranstad until late in February; On the 23rd he despatched an +empty convoy back to Klerksdorp, the fate of which will be afterwards +narrated. + +Kekewich and Hickie had combined their forces at the beginning of +February. On February 4th an attempt was made by them to surprise +General De la Rey. The mounted troops who were despatched under Major +Leader failed in this enterprise, but they found and overwhelmed the +laager of Sarel Alberts, capturing 132 prisoners. By stampeding the +horses the Boer retreat was cut off, and the attack was so furiously +driven home, especially by the admirable Scottish Horse, that few of +the enemy got away. Alberts himself with all his officers were among the +prisoners. From this time until the end of February this column was not +seriously engaged. + +It has been stated above that on February 23rd Von Donop sent in an +empty convoy from Wolmaranstad to Klerksdorp, a distance of about fifty +miles. Nothing had been heard for some time of De la Rey, but he had +called together his men and was waiting to bring off some coup. The +convoy gave him the very opportunity for which he sought. + +The escort of the convoy consisted of the 5th Imperial Yeomanry, sixty +of Paget's Horse, three companies of the ubiquitous Northumberland +Fusiliers, two guns of the 4th R.F.A., and a pom-pom, amounting in all +to 630 men. Colonel Anderson was in command. On the morning of Tuesday, +February 25th, the convoy was within ten miles of its destination, and +the sentries on the kopjes round the town could see the gleam of the +long line of white-tilted wagons. Their hazardous voyage was nearly +over, and yet they were destined to most complete and fatal wreck within +sight of port. So confident were they that the detachment of Paget's +Horse was permitted to ride on the night before into the town. It was +as well, for such a handful would have shared and could not have averted +the disaster. + +The night had been dark and wet, and the Boers under cover of it had +crept between the sleeping convoy and the town. Some bushes which afford +excellent cover lie within a few hundred yards of the road, and here the +main ambush was laid. In the first grey of the morning the long line of +the convoy, 130 wagons in all, came trailing past--guns and Yeomanry in +front, Fusiliers upon the flanks and rear. Suddenly the black bank of +scrub was outlined in flame, and a furious rifle fire was opened +upon the head of the column. The troops behaved admirably under most +difficult circumstances. A counter-attack by the Fusiliers and some of +the Yeomanry, under cover of shrapnel from the guns, drove the enemy +out of the scrub and silenced his fire at this point. It was evident, +however, that he was present in force, for firing soon broke out along +the whole left flank, and the rearguard found itself as warmly attacked +as the van. Again, however, the assailants were driven off. It was now +broad daylight, and the wagons, which had got into great confusion in +the first turmoil of battle, had been remarshalled and arranged. It +was Colonel Anderson's hope that he might be able to send them on into +safety while he with the escort covered their retreat. His plan was +certainly the best one, and if it did not succeed it was due to nothing +which he could avert, but to the nature of the ground and the gallantry +of the enemy. + +The physical obstacle consisted in a very deep and difficult spruit, the +Jagd Spruit, which forms an ugly passage in times of peace, but which +when crowded and choked with stampeding mules and splintering wagons, +under their terrified conductors, soon became impassable. Here the head +of the column was clubbed and the whole line came to a stand. Meanwhile +the enemy, adopting their new tactics, came galloping in on the left +flank and on the rear. The first attack was repelled by the steady fire +of the Fusiliers, but on the second occasion the horsemen got up to the +wagons, and galloping down them were able to overwhelm in detail +the little knots of soldiers who were scattered along the flank. The +British, who were outnumbered by at least three to one, made a stout +resistance, and it was not until seven o'clock that the last shot was +fired. The result was a complete success to the burghers, but one which +leaves no shadow of discredit on any officer or man among those who +were engaged. Eleven officers and 176 men fell out of about 550 actually +engaged. The two guns were taken. The convoy was no use to the Boers, +so the teams were shot and the wagons burned before they withdrew. The +prisoners too, they were unable to retain, and their sole permanent +trophies consisted of the two guns, the rifles, and the ammunition. +Their own losses amounted to about fifty killed and wounded. + +A small force sallied out from Klerksdorp in the hope of helping +Anderson, but on reaching the Jagd Drift it was found that the fighting +was over and that the field was in possession of the Boers. De la Rey +was seen in person among the burghers, and it is pleasant to add that he +made himself conspicuous by his humanity to the wounded. His force drew +off in the course of the morning, and was soon out of reach of immediate +pursuit, though this was attempted by Kekewich, Von Donop, and Grenfell. +It was important to regain the guns if possible, as they were always +a menace to the blockhouse system, and for this purpose Grenfell with +sixteen hundred horsemen was despatched to a point south of Lichtenburg, +which was conjectured to be upon the Boer line of retreat. At the same +time Lord Methuen was ordered up from Vryburg in order to cooperate +in this movement, and to join his forces to those of Grenfell. It was +obvious that with an energetic and resolute adversary like De la Rey +there was great danger of these two forces being taken in detail, but +it was hoped that each was strong enough to hold its own until the other +could come to its aid. The result was to show that the danger was real +and the hope fallacious. + +It was on March 2nd that Methuen left Vryburg. The column was not his +old one, consisting of veterans of the trek, but was the Kimberley +column under Major Paris, a body of men who had seen much less service +and were in every way less reliable. It included a curious mixture of +units, the most solid of which were four guns (two of the 4th, and two +of the 38th R.F.A.), 200 Northumberland Fusiliers, and 100 Loyal North +Lancashires. The mounted men included 5th Imperial Yeomanry (184), +Cape Police (233), Cullinan's Horse (64), 86th Imperial Yeomanry (110), +Diamond Fields Horse (92), Dennison' s Scouts (58), Ashburner's Horse +(126), and British South African Police (24). Such a collection +of samples would be more in place, one would imagine, in a London +procession than in an operation which called for discipline and +cohesion. In warfare the half is often greater than the whole, and the +presence of a proportion of halfhearted and inexperienced men may be a +positive danger to their more capable companions. + +Upon March 6th Methuen, marching east towards Lichtenburg, came in +touch near Leeuwspruit with Van Zyl's commando, and learned in the small +skirmish which ensued that some of his Yeomanry were unreliable and +ill-instructed. Having driven the enemy off by his artillery fire, +Methuen moved to Tweebosch, where he laagered until next morning. At 3 +A.M. of the 7th the ox-convoy was sent on, under escort of half of +his little force. The other half followed at 4. 20, so as to give the +slow-moving oxen a chance of keeping ahead. It was evident, however, +immediately after the column had got started that the enemy were all +round in great numbers, and that an attack in force was to be expected. +Lord Methuen gave orders therefore that the ox-wagons should be halted +and that the mule-transport should close upon them so as to form +one solid block, instead of a straggling line. At the same time he +reinforced his rearguard with mounted men and with two guns, for it +was in that quarter that the enemy appeared to be most numerous and +aggressive. An attack was also developing upon the right flank, which +was held off by the infantry and by the second section of the guns. + +It has been said that Methuen's horsemen were for the most part +inexperienced irregulars. Such men become in time excellent soldiers, as +all this campaign bears witness, but it is too much to expose them to a +severe ordeal in the open field when they are still raw and untrained. +As it happened, this particular ordeal was exceedingly severe, but +nothing can excuse the absolute failure of the troops concerned to rise +to the occasion. Had Methuen's rearguard consisted of Imperial Light +Horse, or Scottish Horse, it is safe to say that the battle of Tweebosch +would have had a very different ending. + +What happened was that a large body of Boers formed up in five lines +and charged straight home at the rear screen and rearguard, firing +from their saddles as they had done at Brakenlaagte. The sight of those +wide-flung lines of determined men galloping over the plain seems to +have been too much for the nerves of the unseasoned troopers. A panic +spread through their ranks, and in an instant they had turned their +horses' heads and were thundering to their rear, leaving the two guns +uncovered and streaming in wild confusion past the left flank of the +jeering infantry who were lying round the wagons. The limit of their +flight seems to have been the wind of their horses, and most of them +never drew rein until they had placed many miles between themselves +and the comrades whom they had deserted. 'It was pitiable,' says an +eye-witness, 'to see the grand old General begging them to stop, but +they would not; a large body of them arrived in Kraaipan without firing +a shot,' It was a South African 'Battle of the Spurs.' + +By this defection of the greater portion of the force the handful of +brave men who remained were left in a hopeless position. The two guns of +the 38th battery were overwhelmed and ridden over by the Boer horsemen, +every man being killed or wounded, including Lieutenant Nesham, who +acted up to the highest traditions of his corps. + +The battle, however, was not yet over. The infantry were few in number, +but they were experienced troops, and they maintained the struggle +for some hours in the face of overwhelming numbers. Two hundred of the +Northumberland Fusiliers lay round the wagons and held the Boers off +from their prey. With them were the two remaining guns, which were +a mark for a thousand Boer riflemen. It was while encouraging by his +presence and example the much-tried gunners of this section that the +gallant Methuen was wounded by a bullet which broke the bone of his +thigh. Lieutenant Venning and all the detachment fell with their General +round the guns. + +An attempt had been made to rally some of the flying troopers at a +neighbouring kraal, and a small body of Cape Police and Yeomanry under +the command of Major Paris held out there for some hours. A hundred of +the Lancashire Infantry aided them in their stout defence. But the guns +taken by the Boers from Von Donop's convoy had free play now that the +British guns were out of action, and they were brought to bear with +crushing effect upon both the kraal and the wagons. Further resistance +meant a useless slaughter, and orders were given for a surrender. +Convoy, ammunition, guns, horses--nothing was saved except the honour +of the infantry and the gunners. The losses, 68 killed and 121 wounded, +fell chiefly upon these two branches of the service. There were 205 +unwounded prisoners. + +This, the last Boer victory in the war, reflected equal credit upon +their valour and humanity, qualities which had not always gone hand in +hand in our experience of them. Courtesy and attention were extended to +the British wounded, and Lord Methuen was sent under charge of his chief +medical officer, Colonel Townsend (the doctor as severely wounded as the +patient), into Klerksdorp. In De la Rey we have always found an opponent +who was as chivalrous as he was formidable. The remainder of the force +reached the Kimberley to Mafeking railway line in the direction of +Kraaipan, the spot where the first bloodshed of the war had occurred +some twenty-nine months before. + +On Lord Methuen himself no blame can rest for this unsuccessful action. +If the workman's tool snaps in his hand he cannot be held responsible +for the failure of his task. The troops who misbehaved were none of his +training. 'If you hear anyone slang him,' says one of his men, 'you are +to tell them that he is the finest General and the truest gentleman that +ever fought in this war.' Such was the tone of his own troopers, and +such also that of the spokesmen of the nation when they commented upon +the disaster in the Houses of Parliament. It was a fine example of +British justice and sense of fair play, even in that bitter moment, that +to hear his eulogy one would have thought that the occasion had been one +when thanks were being returned for a victory. It is a generous public +with fine instincts, and Paul Methuen, wounded and broken, still +remained in their eyes the heroic soldier and the chivalrous man of +honour. + +The De Wet country had been pretty well cleared by the series of drives +which have already been described, and Louis Botha's force in the +Eastern Transvaal had been much diminished by the tactics of Bruce +Hamilton and Wools-Sampson. Lord Kitchener was able, therefore, to +concentrate his troops and his attention upon that wide-spread western +area in which General De la Rey had dealt two such shrewd blows within a +few weeks of each other. Troops were rapidly concentrated at Klerksdorp. +Kekewich, Walter Kitchener, Rawlinson, and Rochfort, with a number of +small columns, were ready in the third week of March to endeavour to +avenge Lord Methuen. + +The problem with which Lord Kitchener was confronted was a very +difficult one, and he has never shown more originality and audacity than +in the fashion in which he handled it. De la Rey's force was scattered +over a long tract of country, capable of rapidly concentrating for a +blow, but otherwise as intangible and elusive as a phantom army. Were +Lord Kitchener simply to launch ten thousand horsemen at him, the result +would be a weary ride over illimitable plains without sight of a Boer, +unless it were a distant scout upon the extreme horizon. De la Rey and +his men would have slipped away to his northern hiding-places beyond the +Marico River. There was no solid obstacle here, as in the Orange River +Colony, against which the flying enemy could be rounded up. One line +of blockhouses there was, it is true--the one called the Schoonspruit +cordon, which flanked the De la Rey country. It flanked it, however, +upon the same side as that on which the troops were assembled. If the +troops were only on the other side, and De la Rey was between them and +the blockhouse line, then, indeed, something might be done. But to place +the troops there, and then bring them instantly back again, was to put +such a strain upon men and horses as had never yet been done upon a +large scale in the course of the war. Yet Lord Kitchener knew the +mettle of the men whom he commanded, and he was aware that there were +no exertions of which the human frame is capable which he might not +confidently demand. + +The precise location of the Boer laagers does not appear to have been +known, but it was certain that a considerable number of them were +scattered about thirty miles or so to the west of Klerksdorp and the +Schoonspruit line. The plan was to march a British force right through +them, then spread out into a wide line and come straight back, +driving the burghers on to the cordon of blockhouses, which had been +strengthened by the arrival of three regiments of Highlanders. But to +get to the other side of the Boers it was necessary to march the columns +through by night. It was a hazardous operation, but the secret was well +kept, and the movement was so well carried out that the enemy had +no time to check it. On the night of Sunday, March 23rd, the British +horsemen passed stealthily in column through the De la Rey country, and +then, spreading out into a line, which from the left wing at Lichtenburg +to the right wing at Commando Drift measured a good eighty miles, they +proceeded to sweep back upon their traces. In order to reach their +positions the columns had, of course, started at different points of +the British blockhouse line, and some had a good deal farther to go +than others, while the southern extension of the line was formed by +Rochfort's troops, who had moved up from the Vaal. Above him from south +to north came Walter Kitchener, Rawlinson, and Kekewich in the order +named. + +On the morning of Monday, March 24th, a line of eighty miles of +horsemen, without guns or transport, was sweeping back towards the +blockhouses, while the country between was filled with scattered parties +of Boers who were seeking for gaps by which to escape. It was soon +learned from the first prisoners that De la Rey was not within the +cordon. His laager had been some distance farther west. But the sight of +fugitive horsemen rising and dipping over the rolling veld assured +the British that they had something within their net. The catch was, +however, by no means as complete as might have been desired. Three +hundred men in khaki slipped through between the two columns in the +early morning. Another large party escaped to the southwards. Some of +the Boers adopted extraordinary devices in order to escape from +the ever-narrowing cordon. 'Three, in charge of some cattle, buried +themselves, and left a small hole to breathe through with a tube. +Some men began to probe with bayonets in the new-turned earth and got +immediate and vociferous subterranean yells. Another man tried the same +game and a horse stepped on him. He writhed and reared the horse, and +practically the horse found the prisoner for us.' But the operations +achieved one result, which must have lifted a load of anxiety from Lord +Kitchener's mind. Three fifteen-pounders, two pom-poms, and a large +amount of ammunition were taken. To Kekewich and the Scottish Horse +fell the honour of the capture, Colonel Wools-Sampson and Captain Rice +heading the charge and pursuit. By this means the constant menace to +the blockhouses was lessened, if not entirely removed. One hundred and +seventy-five Boers were disposed of, nearly all as prisoners, and a +considerable quantity of transport was captured. In this operation the +troops had averaged from seventy to eighty miles in twenty-six hours +without change of horses. To such a point had the slow-moving +ponderous British Army attained after two years' training of that stern +drill-master, necessity. + +The operations had attained some success, but nothing commensurate with +the daring of the plan or the exertions of the soldiers. Without an +instant's delay, however, Lord Kitchener struck a second blow at his +enemy. Before the end of March Kekewich, Rawlinson, and Walter Kitchener +were all upon the trek once more. Their operations were pushed farther +to the west than in the last drive, since it was known that on that +occasion De la Rey and his main commando had been outside the cordon. + +It was to one of Walter Kitchener's lieutenants that the honour fell to +come in direct contact with the main force of the burghers. This General +had moved out to a point about forty miles west of Klerksdorp. Forming +his laager there, he despatched Cookson on March 30th with seventeen +hundred men to work further westward in the direction of the Harts +River. Under Cookson's immediate command were the 2nd Canadian +Mounted Infantry, Damant's Horse, and four guns of the 7th R.F.A. His +lieutenant, Keir, commanded the 28th Mounted Infantry, the Artillery +Mounted Rifles, and 2nd Kitchener's Fighting Scouts. The force was well +mounted, and carried the minimum of baggage. + +It was not long before this mobile force found itself within touch of +the enemy. The broad weal made by the passing of a convoy set them off +at full cry, and they were soon encouraged by the distant cloud of dust +which shrouded the Boer wagons. The advance guard of the column galloped +at the top of their speed for eight miles, and closed in upon the +convoy, but found themselves faced by an escort of five hundred Boers, +who fought a clever rearguard action, and covered their charge with +great skill. At the same time Cookson closed in upon his mounted +infantry, while on the other side De la Rey's main force fell back +in order to reinforce the escort. British and Boers were both riding +furiously to help their own comrades. The two forces were fairly face to +face. + +Perceiving that he was in front of the whole Boer army, and knowing +that he might expect reinforcements, Cookson decided to act upon the +defensive. A position was rapidly taken up along the Brakspruit, and +preparations made to resist the impending attack. The line of defence +was roughly the line of the spruit, but for some reason, probably to +establish a cross fire, one advanced position was occupied upon either +flank. On the left flank was a farmhouse, which was held by two hundred +men of the Artillery Rifles. On the extreme right was another outpost of +twenty-four Canadians and forty-five Mounted Infantry. They occupied no +defensible position, and their situation was evidently a most dangerous +one, only to be justified by some strong military reason which is not +explained by any account of the action. + +The Boer guns had opened fire, and considerable bodies of the enemy +appeared upon the flanks and in front. Their first efforts were devoted +towards getting possession of the farmhouse, which would give them +a point d'appui from which they could turn the whole line. Some five +hundred of them charged on horseback, but were met by a very steady fire +from the Artillery Rifles, while the guns raked them with shrapnel. They +reached a point within five hundred yards of the building, but the fire +was too hot, and they wheeled round in rapid retreat. Dismounting in +a mealie-patch they skirmished up towards the farmhouse once more, but +they were again checked by the fire of the defenders and by a pompom +which Colonel Keir had brought up. No progress whatever was made by the +attack in this quarter. + +In the meantime the fate which might have been foretold had befallen +the isolated detachment of Canadians and 28th Mounted Infantry upon +the extreme right. Bruce Carruthers, the Canadian officer in command, +behaved with the utmost gallantry, and was splendidly seconded by his +men. Overwhelmed by vastly superior numbers, amid a perfect hail of +bullets they fought like heroes to the end. 'There have been few finer +instances of heroism in the course of the campaign,' says the reticent +Kitchener in his official despatch. Of the Canadians eighteen were hit +out of twenty-one, and the Mounted Infantry hard by lost thirty out of +forty-five before they surrendered. + +This advantage gained upon the right flank was of no assistance to the +Boers in breaking the British line. The fact that it was so makes it +the more difficult to understand why this outpost was so exposed. The +burghers had practically surrounded Cookson's force, and De la Rey and +Kemp urged on the attack; but their artillery fire was dominated by +the British guns, and no weak point could be found in the defence. At 1 +o'clock the attack had been begun, and at 5.30 it was finally abandoned, +and De la Rey was in full retreat. That he was in no sense routed is +shown by the fact that Cookson did not attempt to follow him up or to +capture his guns; but at least he had failed in his purpose, and had +lost more heavily than in any engagement which he had yet fought. The +moral effect of his previous victories had also been weakened, and his +burghers had learned, if they had illusions upon the subject, that the +men who fled at Tweebosch were not typical troopers of the British Army. +Altogether, it was a well-fought and useful action, though it cost the +British force some two hundred casualties, of which thirty-five were +fatal. Cookson's force stood to arms all night until the arrival of +Walter Kitchener's men in the morning. + +General Ian Hamilton, who had acted for some time as Chief of the +Staff to Lord Kitchener, had arrived on April 8th at Klerksdorp to take +supreme command of the whole operations against De la Rey. Early in +April the three main British columns had made a rapid cast round without +success. To the very end the better intelligence and the higher mobility +seem to have remained upon the side of the Boers, who could always force +a fight when they wished and escape when they wished. Occasionally, +however, they forced one at the wrong time, as in the instance which I +am about to describe. + +Hamilton had planned a drive to cover the southern portion of De la +Rey's country, and for this purpose, with Hartebeestefontein for his +centre, he was manoeuvring his columns so as to swing them into line +and then sweep back towards Klerksdorp. Kekewich, Rawlinson, and Walter +Kitchener were all manoeuvring for this purpose. The Boers, however, +game to the last, although they were aware that their leaders had +gone in to treat, and that peace was probably due within a few days, +determined to have one last gallant fall with a British column. The +forces of Kekewich were the farthest to the westward, and also, as the +burghers thought, the most isolated, and it was upon them, accordingly, +that the attack was made. In the morning of April 11th, at a place +called Rooiwal, the enemy, who had moved up from Wolmaranstad, nineteen +hundred strong, under Kemp and Vermaas, fell with the utmost impetuosity +upon the British column. There was no preliminary skirmishing, and +a single gallant charge by 1500 Boers both opened and ended the +engagement. 'I was just saying to the staff officer that there were no +Boers within twenty miles,' says one who was present, 'when we heard a +roar of musketry and saw a lot of men galloping down on us.' The British +were surprised but not shaken by this unexpected apparition. 'I never +saw a more splendid attack. They kept a distinct line,' says the +eye-witness. Another spectator says, 'They came on in one long line four +deep and knee to knee.' It was an old-fashioned cavalry charge, and +the fact that it got as far as it did shows that we have over rated the +stopping power of modern rifles. They came for a good five hundred yards +under direct fire, and were only turned within a hundred of the British +line. The Yeomanry, the Scottish Horse, and the Constabulary poured a +steady fire upon the advancing wave of horsemen, and the guns opened +with case at two hundred yards. The Boers were stopped, staggered, and +turned. Their fire, or rather the covering fire of those who had not +joined in the charge, had caused some fifty casualties, but their own +losses were very much more severe. The fierce Potgieter fell just in +front of the British guns. 'Thank goodness he is dead!' cried one of +his wounded burghers, 'for he sjamboked me into the firing line this +morning.' Fifty dead and a great number of wounded were left upon the +field of battle. Rawlinson's column came up on Kekewich's left, and the +Boer flight became a rout, for they were chased for twenty miles, +and their two guns were captured. It was a brisk and decisive little +engagement, and it closed the Western campaign, leaving the last trick, +as well as the game, to the credit of the British. From this time until +the end there was a gleaning of prisoners but little fighting in De +la Rey's country, the most noteworthy event being a surprise visit to +Schweizer-Renecke by Rochfort, by which some sixty prisoners were taken, +and afterwards the drive of Ian Hamilton's forces against the Mafeking +railway line by which no fewer than 364 prisoners were secured. In +this difficult and well-managed operation the gaps between the British +columns were concealed by the lighting of long veld-fires and the +discharge of rifles by scattered scouts. The newly arrived Australian +Commonwealth Regiments gave a brilliant start to the military history +of their united country by the energy of their marching and the +thoroughness of their entrenching. + +Upon May 29th, only two days before the final declaration of peace, +a raid was made by a few Boers upon the native cattle reserves near +Fredericstad. A handful of horsemen pursued them, and were ambushed by a +considerable body of the enemy in some hilly country ten miles from +the British lines. Most of the pursuers got away in safety, but young +Sutherland, second lieutenant of the Seaforths, and only a few months +from Eton, found himself separated from his horse and in a hopeless +position. Scorning to surrender, the lad actually fought his way upon +foot for over a mile before he was shot down by the horsemen who circled +round him. Well might the Boer commander declare that in the whole +course of the war he had seen no finer example of British courage. It is +indeed sad that at this last instant a young life should be thrown +away, but Sutherland died in a noble fashion for a noble cause, and +many inglorious years would be a poor substitute for the example and +tradition which such a death will leave behind. + + + +CHAPTER 39. THE END. + +It only remains in one short chapter to narrate the progress of the +peace negotiations, the ultimate settlement, and the final consequences +of this long-drawn war. However disheartening the successive incidents +may have been in which the Boers were able to inflict heavy losses upon +us and to renew their supplies of arms and ammunition, it was none the +less certain that their numbers were waning and that the inevitable end +was steadily approaching. With mathematical precision the scientific +soldier in Pretoria, with his web of barbed wire radiating out over +the whole country, was week by week wearing them steadily down. And +yet after the recent victory of De la Rey and various braggadocio +pronouncements from the refugees at The Hague, it was somewhat of a +surprise to the British public when it was announced upon March 22nd +that the acting Government of the Transvaal, consisting of Messrs. +Schalk Burger, Lucas Meyer, Reitz, Jacoby, Krogh, and Van Velden had +come into Middelburg and requested to be forwarded by train to Pretoria +for the purpose of discussing terms of peace with Lord Kitchener. A +thrill of hope ran through the Empire at the news, but so doubtful did +the issue seem that none of the preparations were relaxed which would +ensure a vigorous campaign in the immediate future. In the South African +as in the Peninsular and in the Crimean wars, it may truly be said that +Great Britain was never so ready to fight as at the dawning of peace. At +least two years of failure and experience are needed to turn a civilian +and commercial nation into a military power. + +In spite of the optimistic pronouncements of Mr. Fischer and the absurd +forecasts of Dr. Leyds the power of the Boers was really broken, and +they had come in with the genuine intention of surrender. In a race with +such individuality it was not enough that the government should form its +conclusion. It was necessary for them to persuade their burghers that +the game was really up, and that they had no choice but to throw down +their well-worn rifles and their ill-filled bandoliers. For this purpose +a long series of negotiations had to be entered into which put a strain +upon the complacency of the authorities in South Africa and upon the +patience of the attentive public at home. Their ultimate success +shows that this complacency and this patience were eminently the right +attitude to adopt. + +On March 23rd the Transvaal representatives were despatched to Kroonstad +for the purpose of opening up the matter with Steyn and De Wet. +Messengers were sent to communicate with these two leaders, but had they +been British columns instead of fellow-countrymen they could not have +found greater difficulty in running them to earth. At last, however, +at the end of the month the message was conveyed, and resulted in the +appearance of De Wet, De la Rey, and Steyn at the British outposts at +Klerksdorp. The other delegates had come north again from Kroonstad, and +all were united in the same small town, which, by a whimsical fate, +had suddenly become the centre both for the making of peace and for the +prosecution of the war, with the eyes of the whole world fixed upon +its insignificant litter of houses. On April 11th, after repeated +conferences, both parties moved on to Pretoria, and the most sceptical +observers began to confess that there was something in the negotiations +after all. After conferring with Lord Kitchener the Boer leaders upon +April 18th left Pretoria again and rode out to the commandos to explain +the situation to them. The result of this mission was that two delegates +were chosen from each body in the field, who assembled at Vereeniging +upon May 15th for the purpose of settling the question by vote. Never +was a high matter of state decided in so democratic a fashion. + +Up to that period the Boer leaders had made a succession of tentative +suggestions, each of which had been put aside by the British Government. +Their first had been that they should merely concede those points which +had been at issue at the beginning of the war. This was set aside. +The second was that they should be allowed to consult their friends in +Europe. This also was refused. The next was that an armistice should be +granted, but again Lord Kitchener was obdurate. A definite period was +suggested within which the burghers should make their final choice +between surrender and a war which must finally exterminate them as a +people. It was tacitly understood, if not definitely promised, that the +conditions which the British Government would be prepared to grant would +not differ much in essentials from those which had been refused by the +Boers a twelvemonth before, after the Middelburg interview. + +On May 15th the Boer conference opened at Vereeniging. Sixty-four +delegates from the commandos met with the military and political chiefs +of the late republics, the whole amounting to 150 persons. A more +singular gathering has not met in our time. There was Botha, the young +lawyer, who had found himself by a strange turn of fate commanding a +victorious army in a great war. De Wet was there, with his grim mouth +and sun-browned face; De la Rey, also, with the grizzled beard and +the strong aquiline features. There, too, were the politicians, the +grey-bearded, genial Reitz, a little graver than when he looked upon +'the whole matter as an immense joke,' and the unfortunate Steyn, +stumbling and groping, a broken and ruined man. The burly Lucas Meyer, +smart young Smuts fresh from the siege of Ookiep, Beyers from the north, +Kemp the dashing cavalry leader, Muller the hero of many fights--all +these with many others of their sun-blackened, gaunt, hard-featured +comrades were grouped within the great tent of Vereeniging. The +discussions were heated and prolonged. But the logic of facts was +inexorable, and the cold still voice of common-sense had more power than +all the ravings of enthusiasts. The vote showed that the great majority +of the delegates were in favour of surrender upon the terms offered by +the British Government. On May 31st this resolution was notified to Lord +Kitchener, and at half-past ten of the same night the delegates arrived +at Pretoria and set their names to the treaty of peace. After two +years seven and a half months of hostilities the Dutch republics had +acquiesced in their own destruction, and the whole of South Africa, +from Cape Town to the Zambesi, had been added to the British Empire. The +great struggle had cost us twenty thousand lives and a hundred thousand +stricken men, with two hundred millions of money; but, apart from a +peaceful South Africa, it had won for us a national resuscitation of +spirit and a closer union with our great Colonies which could in no +other way have been attained. We had hoped that we were a solid empire +when we engaged in the struggle, but we knew that we were when we +emerged from it. In that change lies an ample recompense for all the +blood and treasure spent. + +The following were in brief the terms of surrender:-- + + 1. That the burghers lay down their arms and acknowledge themselves + subjects of Edward VII. + 2. That all prisoners taking the oath of allegiance be returned. + 3. That their liberty and property be inviolate. + 4. That an amnesty be granted--save in special cases. + 5. That the Dutch language be allowed in schools and law-courts. + 6. That rifles be allowed if registered. + 7. That self-government be granted as soon as possible. + 8. That no franchise be granted for natives until after + self-government. + 9. That no special land tax be levied. + 10. That the people be helped to reoccupy the farms. + 11. That 3,000,000 pounds be given to help the farmers. + 12. That the rebels be disfranchised and their leaders tried, on + condition that no death penalty be inflicted. + +These terms were practically the same as those which had been refused +by Botha in March 1901. Thirteen months of useless warfare had left the +situation as it was. + +It had been a war of surprises, but the surprises have unhappily been +hitherto invariably unpleasant ones. Now at last the balance swung the +other way, for in all the long paradoxical history of South African +strife there is nothing more wonderful than the way in which these two +sturdy and unemotional races clasped hands the instant that the fight +was done. The fact is in itself a final answer to the ill-natured +critics of the Continent. Men do not so easily grasp a hand which is +reddened with the blood of women and children. From all parts as the +commandos came in there was welcome news of the fraternisation between +them and the soldiers; while the Boer leaders, as loyal to their new +ties as they had been to their old ones, exerted themselves to promote +good feeling among their people. A few weeks seemed to do more to lessen +racial bitterness than some of us had hoped for in as many years. One +can but pray that it will last. + +The surrenders amounted in all to twenty thousand men, and showed that +in all parts of the seat of war the enemy had more men in the field than +we had imagined, a fact which may take the sting out of several of our +later mishaps. About twelve thousand surrendered in the Transvaal, six +thousand in the Orange River Colony, and about two thousand in the Cape +Colony, showing that the movement in the rebel districts had always been +more vexatious than formidable. A computation of the prisoners of war, +the surrenders, the mercenaries, and the casualties, shows that the +total forces to which we were opposed were certainly not fewer than +seventy-five thousand well-armed mounted men, while they may have +considerably exceeded that number. No wonder that the Boer leaders +showed great confidence at the outset of the war. + +That the heavy losses caused us by the war were borne without a murmur +is surely evidence enough how deep was the conviction of the nation that +the war was not only just but essential--that the possession of South +Africa and the unity of the Empire were at stake. Could it be shown, or +were it even remotely possible, that ministers had incurred so immense a +responsibility and entailed such tremendous sacrifices upon their people +without adequate cause, is it not certain that, the task once done, an +explosion of rage from the deceived and the bereaved would have driven +them for ever from public life? Among high and low, in England, in +Scotland, in Ireland, in the great Colonies, how many high hopes +had been crushed, how often the soldier son had gone forth and never +returned, or come back maimed and stricken in the pride of his youth. +Everywhere was the voice of pity and sorrow, but nowhere that of +reproach. The deepest instincts of the nation told it that it must fight +and win, or for ever abdicate its position in the world. Through dark +days which brought out the virtues of our race as nothing has done in +our generation, we struggled grimly on until the light had fully broken +once again. And of all gifts that God has given to Britain there is none +to compare with those days of sorrow, for it was in them that the +nation was assured of its unity, and learned for all time that blood is +stronger to bind than salt water is to part. The only difference in the +point of view of the Briton from Britain and the Briton from the ends +of the earth, was that the latter with the energy of youth was more +whole-souled in the Imperial cause. Who has seen that Army and can +forget it--its spirit, its picturesqueness--above all, what it stands +for in the future history of the world? Cowboys from the vast plains of +the North-West, gentlemen who ride hard with the Quorn or the Belvoir, +gillies from the Sutherland deer-forests, bushmen from the back blocks +of Australia, exquisites of the Raleigh Club or the Bachelor's, hard men +from Ontario, dandy sportsmen from India and Ceylon, the horsemen of New +Zealand, the wiry South African irregulars--these are the Reserves whose +existence was chronicled in no Blue-book, and whose appearance came as a +shock to the pedant soldiers of the Continent who had sneered so long +at our little Army, since long years of peace have caused them to forget +its exploits. On the plains of South Africa, in common danger and in +common privation, the blood brotherhood of the Empire was sealed. + +So much for the Empire. But what of South Africa? There in the end we +must reap as we sow. If we are worthy of the trust, it will be left to +us. If we are unworthy of it, it will be taken away. Kruger's downfall +should teach us that it is not rifles but Justice which is the +title-deed of a nation. The British flag under our best administrators +will mean clean government, honest laws, liberty and equality to all +men. So long as it continues to do so, we shall hold South Africa. When, +out of fear or out or greed, we fall from that ideal, we may know that +we are stricken with that disease which has killed every great empire +before us. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Great Boer War, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT BOER WAR *** + +***** This file should be named 3069.txt or 3069.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/3069/ + +Produced by Robert Laing, and Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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